Should Disability Be Disclosed On The Job?

 

Hi,

We have discussed disclosure of disabilities on registration forms. Here is an interesting article about disclosure in the workplace.

Rochelle Kenyon, SME

As federal contractors await finalization of a rule pending from the Department of Labor requiring contractors to set hiring goals of people with disabilities we must consider some challenges the contractors may have in this. I am hopeful for some strong language in this rule. Anyone hiring workers, should be considering, receiving applications and hiring people with disabilities. Yet, there will be a somewhat unique challenge for contractors. People with disabilities may not disclose that they have a disability.

It is illegal to ask the question. And, different from challenges with the Civil Rights Act of 1968 or even the Equal Rights Amendment, people with disabilities may not present as such. In the interview process when you meet a candidate, generally, you know if they are African-American or Caucasian or male or female. If someone is in a wheelchair, then the disability is visible. My son has Down Syndrome. People generally recognize this when they see him. But, there are many other people who have disabilities which are not visible. Autism is a great example of a hidden disability. I have a friend with complete hearing loss in one ear. I don’t think he considers this a disability, but for the purpose of the proposed rule, he would count toward the requirements and if he were to go work for a federal contractor, they would really need him to disclose.

 

Will people with hidden disabilities in the workplace disclose? In a study done out of Cornell University’s  School of Industrial and Labor Relations in 2011, nearly 75% of respondents indicated that the risk of being fired/not hired would influence a decision not to disclose a disability. There were also concerns regarding disclosure limiting opportunities for advancement. How can companies overcome these concerns? The same study also showed that the following factors also affected individual decisions to disclose:

  1. Active disability recruiting
  2. Recruitment materials invite people with disabilities
  3. Disability inclusive message
  4. Disability friendly workplace

Most of the above factors which would encourage people with disabilities to apply and disclose are really quite superficial and easy for companies to implement. Active disability recruiting could be as simple as including a phrase like “people with disabilities encouraged to apply” into job descriptions. Recruitment materials invite people with disabilities sounds as simple as including people with visible disabilities in pictures in your human resource materials and on the website as part of the online application process. A disability inclusive message could be as simple as stating your company “values a diverse workforce and individuals with varying abilities”. 

 

Having a disability friendly workplace can be a bigger problem to overcome. There must be an investment by companies to educate their teams on the value of including disability in the work place. And, on the basics of disability etiquette, so that no one inadvertently offends someone else. For example, people first language is very important. It’s impolite to say “that quadriplegic woman” and more appropriate to say “the woman with quadriplegia”.  Why is this difference so important?  In putting the condition first it puts emphasis/importance on the condition rather than the person. That’s one step to having a disability friendly work place.

Another important aspect is accessibility. Most people think of wheelchair ramps and wide hallways as accessibility issues, and they are. But, there are others too, such as lighting accommodations and limiting exposure to noises or allowing someone to sit in a job that might generally be done standing up, such as a cashier. It is important that operational managers understand how to accommodate the workplace to make it accessible and are empowered to accommodate. For example, if there are two well qualified candidates for a job who each have disabilities and can only work part time and a manager has only one full-time opening, does that manager have the authority to make a decision to create two part-time positions in lieu of the one full-time position so that the two people with the disabilities can share the job?

All of these considerations and more are going to be important for companies as they move to diversify and increase their talent pools.

Judy Owen, the author, is the co-founder and CEO of Opportunity Works, Inc. a full service staffing company focused on recruiting people with disabilities.