Should I continue checking "no" when asked if I have a disability?

January 18, 2020 2:26 AM

I have major depressive disorder and general anxiety disorder. I manage it pretty well with medication and therapy. I have never checked "yes" when asked if I have a disability on a job application due to fear of ableism and stigma. Should I keep doing that?

I am mid career transition in my 30s. I am going to be sending out many many job applications over the next year for software development type jobs. Ageism and ableism and mental health stigma are real things everywhere, and the tech industry is no different. The job applications list major depression as an example of a disability when it comes to that section.

Am I legally required to check yes? Should I check yes even if not required? What are the potential ramifications of checking yes? My instinct says keep it to myself, none of their business, but perhaps I am doing myself a disservice if there are benefits to disclosing this. Thank you!

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (18 answers total)

I am not a lawyer, but am pretty certain that no one is required to disclose a disability if they do not want to. I suppose there are situations where hiding a disability could be dangerous (a job which involves driving and a disability which could affect that) but that does not sound like the case for you.

The reason one might disclose a disability is

1) to allow your employer to make accommodations for it
2) to provide you with legal protection (again, not a lawyer and I imagine this would vary depending on where you are) in the event that you were fired because of that disability.

So I guess you need to balance whether those two advantages balance the potential disadvantages. I would hope that most people would take a disclosure of your issues seriously but I appreciate the fear that people might not. If disclosing your condition is going to aggregate it, then don't.

I'd also recommend messaging ask a manager who is great for these kind of queries
posted by Cannon Fodder at 2:47 AM on January 18, 2020 [2 favorites]

The Q/A page of the ADA from EEOC may be helpful to you, assuming you are in the US.

16. Do I have to tell the employer during the application process that I might need an accommodation to perform the job?

No. The ADA does not require that an applicant inform an employer about the need for a reasonable accommodation at any particular time, so this information need not be volunteered on an application form or in an interview.

Determining the best moment to tell a prospective employer about the need for reasonable accommodation on the job is a personal decision. Sometimes, applicants are not aware they may need a reasonable accommodation until they have more information about the job, its requirements, and the work environment. Some applicants choose to inform an employer during the application process after they better understand the job and its requirements. Others choose to wait until they have a job offer.

Unfortunately, illness bias and discrimination is very real, regardless of if you do everything "right." My understanding - as a non-working disabled person but was once working and follow many other employed disabled people - is to keep it to yourself unless you need accommodation. And to only mention that accomodation at the appropriate time per ADA requirements for reasonable accommodation requests. If you don't need job accommodations beyond what's standard in your job, then I see no reason to bring it up.

And yes, there's a list of generally qualified conditions/impairments/disabilities because it CAN impact life/work to need reasonable accommodation. But it doesn't mean YOUR specific condition IS an impairment that requires accommodation - you'll have to explore that. It's if the impairment "substantially limits one or more major life activities." My IBS is disabling. Many people's IBS is not.
posted by Crystalinne at 3:11 AM on January 18, 2020 [9 favorites]

I would recommend against disclosing. I believe that you will be discriminated against during the hiring process and that employees will prefer candidates who haven't disclosed a divisibility. Perhaps you can ask this question to the excellent askamanager blog?
posted by jazh at 3:18 AM on January 18, 2020 [3 favorites]

Don't mention it until AFTER you have received a job offer in writing.

There are thousands of first hand accounts of people missing out on jobs after disclosing. It's illegal, but it still happens.

Apply for the job, and once they've given you an offer in writing, THEN disclose if you need accommodations.
posted by Murderbot at 3:19 AM on January 18, 2020 [3 favorites]

And I meant to add:

9. What are examples of questions that an employer cannot ask on an application or during an interview?

Examples of prohibited questions during the pre-offer period include:

Do you have a heart condition? Do you have asthma or any other difficulties breathing?
Do you have a disability which would interfere with your ability to perform the job?
How many days were you sick last year?
Have you ever filed for workers' compensation? Have you ever been injured on the job?
Have you ever been treated for mental health problems?
What prescription drugs are you currently taking?

That question should have a note about it "not being used to determine eligibility" or whatever. But I don't trust that system.
posted by Crystalinne at 3:20 AM on January 18, 2020 [4 favorites]

They key here is whether you will need a "reasonable accommodation." If you don't, there's no need (or requirement) to disclose your conditions. So don't mention them at all during the interview and hiring process. If you get a job and later find out that you need accommodation, you can consider asking for one. Check out this page: Depression, PTSD, & Other Mental Health Conditions in the Workplace: Your Legal Rights. It will tell you exactly what you need to know.
posted by ubiquity at 5:02 AM on January 18, 2020 [1 favorite]

In situations where I've gotten that question on an online application, there's been accompanied by a question about being a Veteran, along with a disclaimer that this information is not used for individual hiring decisions (because that is, as Crystalinne points out, illegal). It can get used on an aggregate level for an organization to apply for certain types of federal funding, or sometimes in recruitment publications (e.g. "28% of our employees identify as having a disability, 14% are Veterans").

I've been involved on the hiring side this past year, and disability/Veteran information doesn't get passed to interviewers, so I don't know about it unless the candidate brings it up. (Note: not in tech, unsure what the norms are in that industry.) Illness bias is definitely real, though. I personally wouldn't disclose unless I felt I needed accommodations to do the job.
posted by basalganglia at 5:25 AM on January 18, 2020 [5 favorites]

You are not legally required to disclose disabilities to potential employers, I personally would never do so, and US laws protecting you from being fired for it are so easy to circumvent, especially in at-will states, that the risk of bias and discrimination does not outweigh the scant protections, in my personal opinion and experience.

People with visible disabilities may feel very differently about this question and I'm not interested in speaking over them or invalidating their opinions, just sharing my own.
posted by poffin boffin at 6:18 AM on January 18, 2020 [1 favorite]

The reason they're asking you on the application if you have a disability is because they report to their board/stakeholders/etc. every year how many applicants they got with disabilities and what percentage they hired. This is also why job applications may ask you your race and whether you are LGBTQ. I don't have advice for you on whether to check yes or no, but this is why they're asking.

Caveat: if the employer is the US government/a federal agency, they are required to take affirmative action to hire people with disabilities. (YMMV on how well various agencies actually hold up this provision...)
posted by capricorn at 6:33 AM on January 18, 2020 [1 favorite]

I didn’t even know I was disabled when I started my last job. When it became apparent to me that I was going to need an accommodation I started into the process with HR and no question ever came close to referencing what I had checked or not checked on my application.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:09 AM on January 18, 2020 [1 favorite]

Hi, I am a person with disabilities and work in disability law. Here are my thoughts:

For some kinds of government, nonprofit work, and work where you would be interacting with other people who have disabilities, where the employer is genuinely interested in diversity and seeking out people who have lived experience of disability, I would say disclose.

If the disability is physically obvious (wheelchair, cane, service dog), then you pretty much have to disclose because you're not fooling anyone anyway.

Otherwise, there is no way in hell that I would disclose before I started. You have to disclose in order to get accommodations, but you definitely don't have to disclose on a job application.
posted by bile and syntax at 8:10 AM on January 18, 2020 [11 favorites]

Absolutely do not disclose at the interview stage, you don't want to give them any reason to eliminate you, and yeah the law is the law but that doesn't mean people follow it. If you can muddle through, don't disclose until you have accepted the offer, started working and passed any probationary period.
posted by mccxxiii at 9:43 AM on January 18, 2020 [1 favorite]

I have a disability. I do not disclose until after I accept a position. Once you accept the position, inform HR that you have one and may need accommodations in the future. You do not necessarily have to elaborate.
posted by crunchy potato at 9:56 AM on January 18, 2020 [1 favorite]

That's tacky at best and illegal at worst that they put it on a job application form. Nthing everyone else to not report until you've been hired.
posted by Aleyn at 9:58 AM on January 18, 2020 [1 favorite]

you are not required to disclose anything about your health - but you do have the right to disclose at a time of your choice and to ask for ADA accomodations. (i always check no)
posted by megan_magnolia at 12:12 PM on January 18, 2020

Discrimination against disabled jobseekers who are otherwise suitable/well qualified is so strong

that I know several manual wheelchair users who are able to walk a tiny amount

who will struggle into the job interview with just a walking stick, despite the pain and exhaustion

and not reveal their manual wheelchair until day 1 of the job.

Disability discrimination is just that common.
posted by Murderbot at 1:49 PM on January 18, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Absotootly do not disclose, and frankly would not disclose at all at the job unless you really must have to for an FMLA situation. And even then I would make something up when talking to anyone outside HR (i.e. anyone you're not required to disclose to). There's too much stigma.
posted by Anonymous at 4:22 PM on January 18, 2020

The question is asked in a kind of trick question way. If you say you do not and you do you may be asked for work details above and beyond the scope of your job description. If you say you do and you do your position can be undermined or removed with no direct consequence for discrimination. I would leave it blank. It's a demographic query to help the unemployment statistic. It really does nothing for or against the applicant.
posted by The_imp_inimpossible at 4:59 AM on January 19, 2020