Things that annoy me. Emirates....

Why.....

They are some things which just take the biscuit in my eyes, and just show why we need people to be educated on Mental Health. 

You may have herd "in the news" i say that in brackets because it no one really spoke about what an outrage it was. 

See the more at the link below.

 http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/26/lost-dream-job-emirates-depression-mental-health 

Somehow the many laws against mental health discrimination don't apply to Emirates, But why!

so the lady who brought this to light got through the selection process and to the finial interview stage, then a few weeks later got told she has the job but would have to meet some medical conditions. At this point she had no idea how things were going to turn out, when the forms came she made a shocking discovery that emirates will not  accept employees with long-term recurrent mental health issues, and that isolated cases required a doctor's report. That's fair enough in cases where the individuals mental health could be a safety risk or would stop them from fulfilling their role. This particular lady had had suffered with depression in the past, but these were isolated bouts do to traumatic events. She was no longer on any medication (not that that makes any difference), the doctors report stated that she was now both mentally and physically fit. However despite all of this she got a email withdrawing her job offer as she had not met their medical conditions. Understandably this was upsetting for her and I can imagine annoyed.  Not only had she had her dream taken away but had also lost money. 

How can they do this? 

This is discrimination! It is 100% Illegal in England and Wales but emirates get away with this because they only have to follow the UAE laws. 

Why this annoys me so much

1. Its Discrimination, if she had broke her leg in the past that would make no difference, or had a nasty flu. Yet because she has had depression she cannot do the job. Why? No of course she can. 

2. Its more stigma, people face stigma every day, we all face it in some way or another. people with mental health issues unfortunately face it daily.

3. It stops people seeking help, sometimes someone will need some support with their work but people don't seek this as they are worried about losing their job

4. People then feel the need to hide their past, the depression is part of that lady's life, and I can imagine it has made her a stronger person as a result. 

What can we do? 

Talk about Mental health, they is also a Facebook page set up - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emirates-Against-Depression/869918453025390 So go like it and if you have a story let it out. Tell people what is happening. Tweet, talk, text the more people who know the more likely we are to stop it.