Disclosing your disability to a potential employer or your workplace may be a difficult decision. Disclosure is a personal decision and the choice will be different for everyone based on your personal experiences and needs.
Before deciding to disclose your disability, it is important to explore the challenges and choices you may face: 'Do I need to disclose my disability?', ''when do I disclose my disability?', 'how do I disclose my disability?', 'what are my rights?', 'do I have responsibilities when I disclose?'.
When applying for a position, you may choose to disclose your disability in your resume or letter of application. You may also disclose when a job interview is being organised, during the interview, after the job offer is made, when you are in the work environment or not at all.
When and how you may disclose may be affected by such factors as:
- the type of disability
- the type of employment opportunity
- the need for adjustments to be implemented for the job interview
- whether the disability is apparent or not and how this might affect a prospective employer's judgement of your ability to perform particular duties
- the need for workplace adjustments or supports
- the attitudes of the interviewer(s), co-workers or managers.
It is important to note that there is no legal obligation for you to disclose your disability unless it is likely to affect your performance to meet the inherent requirements of the job. Disclosure of disability becomes relevant to both you and an employer when negotiating appropriate adjustments in the workplace to enable inherent requirements of the position to be met.
It is important to remember that disclosure of disability is not the central issue of concern in the process of recruitment and employment for people with disabilities. As with all steps in the employment process, the emphasis should be on the skills and qualities of the employee and not on issues that may have no bearing on whether the employee can do the job well.
Why You as a Person with a Disability May Choose to Disclose
You may choose to disclose your disability because:
- many employers are committed to Equal Opportunity policies that reflect non-discriminatory recruitment and employment procedures
- employers may appreciate the potential employee's openness
- personal experience of a disability may be a selection criteria of the position or a prerequisite for the position
- it provides the opportunity to negotiate adjustments in the workplace
- it is an opportunity for you to discuss your disability in a way that promotes your skills, abilities, life experiences and suitability to the position.
Why You as a Person with a Disability May Choose Not to Disclose?
You may choose not to disclose your disability because:
- you may have a fear of being, or have been, discriminated against
- you may fear that the employer will focus on your disability and not your abilities
- you may believe that your disability will not affect your job performance
- you may fear that staff will treat you differently or negatively because of your disability
- you may feel that an employer will see you as a liability and a potential expense either through time off or through 'special' employment arrangements
- some employers may have preset and unrealistic attitudes about people with disabilities.
Disclosure of Disability in the Letter of Application or Resume1
It is generally not considered standard practice for applicants to disclose their disability in their resume and/or application letter unless:
- it is relevant to the position
- work related adjustments are required to ensure equal opportunity in the selection process and/or
- the organisation is supportive of equity practices.
Disclosure of disability in a letter of application or resume may be implied or stated as a positive in relation to prior achievements, abilities, personal qualities, problem-solving skills, management strategies and other skills related to the position criteria. You may also identify adjustments in the workplace that would be required if you were successful.
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Some Examples
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Some application forms may ask disability specific questions to determine whether a person with a disability can perform the inherent requirements of the job. There is no legal obligation for you to disclose your disability in an application form. You may choose to ignore the disability specific questions or answer the question(s) as 'Not Applicable'.
All applicants, including applicants with a disability, are responsible for investigating and understanding the inherent requirements of the position to determine whether they are able to perform them. Applicants with a disability who require work related adjustments to meet the inherent requirements of the position may choose to disclose their disability when accepting a job interview, in the interview or when the position of employment has been offered.
Your Rights and Responsibilities
You have a right to:
- know how an employer/organisation collects personal and disability specific data and how it is used by the organisation. The Federal Privacy Act and other similar state Acts require organisations to provide a statement on any form indicating how personal information will be used. If this information is not made available, you have the right to inquire about the processes
- decide whether you wish to disclose your disability in an application letter, resume or application form.
You have a responsibility to:
- ensure that you fully understand the inherent requirements of the position and decide whether you have the ability to perform them when applying for a job. Inherent requirements can include qualifications, hours of work per week, travel requirements etc. It should be noted that work related adjustments may often assist you to meet the 'inherent requirements' of the position.
- If you have disclosed your disability in your letter of application, resume and/or application form to highlight the need for work related adjustments in the workplace, it is your responsibility to be prepared to discuss this in the interview, when the position is offered or when employed in the position.
- If you have chosen not to disclose your disability in your letter of application, resume or application form, and you require work related adjustments, it is your responsibility to be prepared to discuss this with the organisation, either when a job interview has been offered, in the interview, when the position is offered or when employed in the position.
For further information about disclosure in the letter of application or resume, refer to: Choosing Your Path. Disclosure: It's a Personal Decision, Letter of Application or Resume
Disclosure of Disability when the Employer Phones to Offer an Interview
You may choose to disclose your disability when an interview offer is made. The reason to disclose at this point may be to:
- prepare the interview panel
- organise adjustments for the interview; e.g. accessible venue, sign interpreter
- eliminate any unnecessary stresses or obstacles that may hinder the interview performance.
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You may choose not to disclose your disability when a job interview has been made because:
- you have a hidden disability and would prefer to disclose when an offer of employment is made, once in a position of employment or not at all
- your disability has no effect or impact on your ability to do the job
- you fear the prospective employer and/or interview panel may focus on your disability and not on your abilities
- you fear that the information may be perceived in a negative or discriminatory manner which may disadvantage you in the interview
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Your Rights and Responsibilities
You have a right to:
- have information about your disability treated confidentially and respectfully
- appropriate adjustments and support in the interview, in relation to your disability, to enable you to effectively demonstrate your skills and abilities in the interview.
You have a responsibility to:
- identify appropriate and reasonable adjustments for the interview
- discuss with the prospective employer, convener of the interview panel or a member of the interview panel any disability specific requirements needed for the interview
- inform the manager/convener/panel in a timely manner about the need for appropriate interview adjustments
For further information about disclosure when a job interview is offered, refer to:
Choosing Your Path. Disclosure: It's a Personal Decision, Organising a Job Interview
Disclosure of Disability During the Interview
For people with a visible disability, disclosure at an interview is inevitable.
Whether you have a visible or hidden disability, you may wish to disclose your disability during the job interview to:
- demonstrate your ability, skills, strengths and suitability for the position
- discuss how you manage your disability in your daily life and workplace
- describe how you would undertake the required duties of the position
- address any misconceptions, provide factual information and suggest strategies to address any obstacles to the job
- prevent the interview panel from forming mistaken or stereotyped ideas of your ability to perform in the job
- identify any necessary workplace adjustments and how these have been achieved in previous employment and/or experiences.
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You may choose NOT to disclose your disability at a job interview because:
- it may not be appropriate or relevant when demonstrating your ability to perform in the job
- the information may be perceived in a negative or discriminatory manner
- the interview panel may focus on your disability, not on your abilities
- your disability has no effect or impact on your ability to meet the inherent requirements of the job
- you may not require work related adjustments in the job
- your disability may be in remission and therefore not considered relevant to the interview process.
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Your Rights and Responsibilities
You have a right to:
- fair and equitable interview process that focuses on your abilities
- have information about your disability treated confidentially and respectfully
- appropriate and respectful questioning of your disability for the purpose of identifying your ability to meet the requirements of the position and any work related adjustments required
- have information about your disability used by the interview panel only for the purposes of determining your merit in meeting the inherent requirements of the job
- discuss work related adjustments in a job interview to demonstrate your ability to meet the inherent requirements of the position.
You have a Responsibility to:
- identify appropriate and reasonable work related adjustments with the interview panel when negotiating possible adjustments in the job.
- negotiate the type of work related adjustments with the employer to identify the most appropriate adjustments for the work environment.
For further information about disclosure during a job interview, refer to:
Choosing Your Path. Disclosure: It's a Personal Decision, Job Interview
Disclosure of Disability after a Job Offer
When a position of employment has been offered, you may choose to disclose your disability to the employer. Disclosure at this point may occur to:
- identify and negotiate work related adjustments
- inform the employer of any disability specific issues arise that may arise whilst you are in the position
- evaluate whether the employer and/or workplace is supportive of working with people with disabilities.
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You may choose NOT to disclose your disability when a job offer has been made because:
- your disability has no effect or impact on your ability to do the job
- you fear the information may be perceived in a negative or discriminatory manner
- you may not require work related adjustments.
- your disability may be in remission and therefore not considered relevant or appropriate to disclose to the employer.
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Your Rights and Responsibilities
You have a right to:
- have information about your disability treated confidentially and respectfully
- appropriate work related adjustments and support in relation to your disability, to enable you to effectively demonstrate your skills and abilities in the job
- appropriate and respectful questioning of your disability for the purpose of identifying required work related adjustments
- have information about your disability used by the employer/supervisor only for the purposes of implementing work related adjustments in the workplace and to assess whether the inherent requirements of the position can be met.
You have a responsibility to:
- be prepared to discuss work related adjustments with the organisation, either when the position is offered or when employed in the position
- identify appropriate and reasonable work related adjustments when negotiating with the organisation .
For further information about disclosure when a job offer has been made, refer to:
Choosing Your Path. Disclosure: It's a Personal Decision, Offer of Employment
Disclosure of Disability in the Job
You may choose to disclose your disability whilst you are employed in a job because:
- your personal circumstances have changed, such as acquiring a disability or medical condition
- you may experience a progression of your disability
- you may feel more comfortable and confident about disclosing in a familiar environment
- you may be confident to disclose your disability knowing that it will not lead to discriminatory attitudes and actions
- your job and conditions may have changed such as moving to a new work location, agreeing to take on additional duties, a new supervisor/manager and/or new colleagues any of which may highlight issues in relation to a disability
- you may identify a specific support that may not have been available when you commenced the job e.g. new software or hardware
- you may not be performing well in the job due to your disability and may need to explain the situation to your employer.
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You may choose NOT to disclose your disability whilst you are employed in a job because:
- you can manage your job and the impact of your disability without additional support or assistance
- you may have put in place adequate external structures to ensure that your disability does not impede the job
- you may feel you would be treated differently or your disability would be perceived in a negative or discriminatory manner
- your disability may be in remission and therefore not considered relevant to the current position
- you feel that you will be discriminated against or seen as less competent in the job.
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Your Rights and Responsibilities
You have a right to:
- have information about your disability treated confidentially and respectfully.
- appropriate and respectful questioning for the purpose of identifying work related adjustments required
- know what happens to personal information provided to the organisation
- have information about your disability used by the organisation only for the purposes of implementing work related adjustments in the workplace and to assess whether the inherent requirements of the position can be met.
You have a responsibility to:
- consider and/or obtain assistance in identifying strategies and suggested work related adjustments required to enable you to maintain your position of employment
- recognise that disclosure at the point of crisis may not always ensure that work related adjustments can be easily or successfully implemented due to short time frames and the complexity of issues
- disclose your disability if it is seen to impact on the job and the health and safety aspects of the work environment. In these circumstances, disclosing your disability is considered the right and proper action. Work related adjustments can be investigated to reduce the occupational health and safety issues for you and associated work colleagues. Not disclosing may be in breach of Occupational Health and Safety legislation
- disclose your disability if the disability is impacting on your work performance. This is most relevant if disciplinary procedures are implemented to address the poor work performance. Disclosure at this time alerts management about the disability issues which requires them to address them as priority, before commencing with poor work performance procedures. Acting on disability issues includes working with the employer to identify work related adjustments to enable inherent requirements of the position to be met.
For further information about disclosure when in the job, refer to:
Choosing Your Path. Disclosure: It's a Personal Decision:
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The decision to disclose a disability in the employment sector is a personal choice. Disclosure is an individual decision, depending on the circumstances, the context and how comfortable you feel about it.
When, how and if disclosure is to occur is often affected by such factors as:
- the type of disability
- the type of employment opportunity
- the need for adjustments to be implemented for the job interview
- whether the disability is apparent or not and how this might affect the prospective employer's judgement of your ability to perform particular duties
- the need for work place adjustments or supports
- the attitudes of the interviewer(s), co-workers or managers (1) .
You may have weighed up these factors and made the personal decision that disclosure of disability should not occur whilst seeking, accessing or maintaining employment.
Your Rights and Responsibilities
Non-disclosure can sometimes have significant repercussions that you may need to consider such as:
- if there is a crisis related to your disability such as deterioration in an existing disability or medical condition, it may be difficult to implement work related adjustments quickly
- if the disability is impacting on the job, an employer may perceive this as poor work performance and work related adjustments cannot be implemented
- if the disability could reasonably be seen to cause a health and safety risk for other people in the workplace, failing to disclose that risk could be a breach of your obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
For further information about non-disclosure in a job, refer to:
Choosing Your Path. Disclosure: It's a Personal Decision, Not to Disclose in Employment
Employers are required to comply with privacy principles in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW). Important privacy principles include:
- only collecting information that is directly related to the employer's activities and necessary for that purpose
- only collecting sensitive information where the individual has consented
- informing the employee that the information is being collected, why it is being collected and who will be storing and using it
- only using/disclosing personal information for the purpose that the information was collected; e.g. for health and safety reasons
- taking reasonable steps to ensure information collected is accurate and up to date
- storing the information securely, not keeping it any longer than necessary, and disposing of it appropriately.
You as an applicant/employee with a disability have the right to have your privacy, dignity and confidentiality recognised and respected. In particular, an employer/manager should:
- gain your permission if they wish to inform other staff about your disability
- discuss with you whether you feel comfortable with nominated staff knowing about your disability or medical condition.
You have the right to refuse to have disability-specific information communicated to other staff. In this instance, only information related to the implementation of the workplace adjustments required for you can be forwarded on to relevant departments, not specific disability information.
Failure to provide appropriate protection to confidential personal information in relation to a person's disability may involve or lead to discrimination in some circumstances, as well as discouraging disclosure and discussion of disability-related issues.
For further information about privacy laws, refer to:
Choosing Your Path. Disclosure: It's a Personal Decision, Privacy and Confidentiality Acts
Health Questionnaires and Assessments
Refer to the section Health Questionnaires and Medical Assessments
An employer may have a separate equal opportunities monitoring form, which they require all applicants to complete. This information is used to ascertain if the mix of people who apply for their jobs is representative of society as a whole. Such equal opportunities forms are not used in the selection process. They are separated from the main application form, usually by the Personnel Manager or Human Resources team in a large organisation. This means that those doing the short listing do not see them and therefore only take into account the applicant's skills and relevant experience.
You may choose to disclose your disability on an EEO form to:
- send a message to management or to make a difference in assisting the organisation to implement and evaluate fair and equitable policies and strategies to meet the needs of staff with disabilities
- promote the fact that people with disabilities can work in many positions of employment
- provide personal information, knowing that this disclosure will not impact on your position of employment and that the information is used for statistical data only.
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You may choose NOT to disclose your disability on an EEO form because:
- you may believe that your disability information is not relevant to the position of employment and therefore not relevant to the EEO process
- you may not know where the information will go or who will have access to the information
- you may not be confident that the information will not be used in a negative or discriminatory manner
- your disability may be in remission and therefore not considered relevant to the process
- you may not consider that your existing condition is a disability.
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Your Rights and Responsibilities
You have a right to:
- know what happens to personal information and disability specific information that the organisation collects about you, including information from EEO forms.
You have a Responsibility to:
- complete EEO forms, which ask about disability, if you wish to have your disability status recorded by the organisation.
For further information about disclosure on EEO monitoring forms, refer to:
Choosing Your Path. Disclosure: It's a Personal Decision, EEO Monitoring Forms
This document has been adapted from the Resource:
Mungovan, A. & Quigley, F (2003) Choosing Your Path. Disclosure: It's a Personal Decision,
Additional Information:
There are currently some excellent web based resources available to help you to consider:
- personal challenges and choices
- choices you can make when deciding whether to disclose a disability
- the role and responsibilities of employers and educators if you choose to disclose.
To access these excellent web based resources, click on to the following headings:
'Choosing Your Path. Disclosure: It's A Personal Decision' (2003)
This is a resource for students and employees with disabilities, employers, educators and support services. The Resource provides information about:
- options and pathways you have when deciding to disclose your disability
- the benefits and disadvantages of disclosing and some key considerations for effective disclosure
- your rights, roles and responsibilities when you disclose a disability in post secondary education and employment.
This is part of a resource developed for jobseekers with disabilities and employers. The Disclosure section outlines the rights and responsibilities of jobseekers when considering disclosing a disability, including rights under federal privacy legislation.
Disclosure in the Application Process (2004) (PDF version)
This is a Factsheet developed by the University of Tasmania Career Development and Employment Service. The Factsheet has been developed to provide choices in disclosing a disability when applying for employment.
Disclosure of Disability (2002)
This is an article outlining rights and responsibilities when disclosing a disability in employment.
International sites:
The 411 on Disability Disclosure: A Workbook for Youth with Disabilities (2005)
A workbook website that can assist you to learn about disability disclosure. It can assist you to make informed decisions about whether or not to disclose your disability and understand how that decision may impact on your education, employment, and social lives. You can download the complete workbook or individual sections.
Jobs for the Disabled, Tips on Working with a disAbility
This is an excerpt from a book written by American Author Kathleen Fullerton Bernhard, Ph.D. (author of Work with Your Disability) which discusses the decision of disclosing a disability when applying for employment.
Footnotes
1. Mungovan,.A, England , H., Anderton, D,. O'Day,A., Education to Employment Package I (1998), NSW Regional Disability Liaison Officer Initiative, Sydney , Australia
