I'm based in the UK, and work for a charity/third sector org of about 25 people. I started this job (I'm a caseworker but don't do any face to face appointments as part of my role) in October 2021 after getting made redundant from my previous job. Its a fairly OK org and, maybe worth noting, abolitionist (in theory).
I've been working from home and doing my job very well the entire time I've been employed. When I started there was mention of returning to the office last November 2 days minimum per week which was nuts and didn't happen. It got moved to March this year, and is looking to go ahead. I have long term mental health issues, the main diagnosis being OCD which I declared on all documents. When I interviewed there was mention of returning to the office in the future, which I agreed would likely be OK for me to work towards, but no agreements were made because we're in a pandemic, obviously.
My OCD has flared up badly recently and I had an assessment where my symptoms scored highest they've ever been. So, aside from not loving that for me, I decided to talk to my boss about working from home for longer as my main issue is focus and concentration. I had a conversation this morning where we went back and forwards on the intricacies of normal anxiety vs debilitating compulsions (again, not my fave way to start a day). This boss in particular is so pro office, for the reasons of 'it being best for the team'. I agreed its not that I NEVER want to go back, but that it would detrimental to my OCD to do it now. I've been diagnosed for 5 years and I know what I can dk to mitigate deterioration in my symptoms.
My boss made a comment towards the end of our conversation where I felt as though I'd gotten through to her that was about me declaring this in my initial interview. I said I didn't remember but wouldn't declare my mental illness in any interview unless relevant for me. She then said something along the lines of “we excluded people from shortlisting for interview if they weren't able to work from the office, which is why I'm wondering”.
Am I a naive chump, or is this just not good/correct/right? Surely there's some issue around indirectly discriminating against people who have needs that mean they can't necessarily be office based, and expects them to disclose this?
I get to work from home for now and I'm putting in a formal permanent WFH request with ops too but it just made me feel uneasy!