I would absolutely *not* share the info up front, if at all, ever. There is no ethical issue as far as I am concerned. IBS is not the same as epilepsy (for instance), where you or someone else could be injured if it was not known you had the condition.
It's been my experience that an employer is more likely to give you leeway when needed if you are demonstrating overall that you have a great work ethic... and you can't demonstrate that if you can't get a job. I agree with LisaMarie, it could set up a negative bias that isn't necessary. A potential employer just *isn't* going to hire the person they think is going to be "out sick all the time," whether that's the reality or just the perception. If you set them up to think that way, it's one strike already against you.
I work at a professional consulting firm, and honestly, it's just not a big deal if someone has to get up to go to the bathroom, and it's not a crisis if they are gone awhile. Where I work, people do get waylaid by others in the hallways, etc. Any number of things keep people from being at their desks at a given time. A "popular" one here is that their kid gets sick and they have to leave early.
If you do have to "run for it" or go home occasionally, just explain (briefly!) at the time or soon afterwards. You speak the truth when you say plainly and simply, "Sorry about that... I ate something that didn't agree with me." My sense is that people at work generally do not want to hear a lot of talk about our "ailments," whatever they are. If you don't make a big deal about your IBS, I suspect others won't, either.
Well, that's just what I would do.
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Re: Job selection with IBS - telling employer?
