The fine art of disclosure: When and how to talk about your disability

Disclosing personal information about your disability to an employer can be a nerve-wracking experience, especially when you don’t know your rights. When framed in a positive and informed way, it can be turned into a positive and empowering experience.  

Many years ago, while working at an employment center in Toronto, I was approached by a job seeker who asked me to review her cover letter and resume.  

All was fine until I came across the following phrase: “Although I’ve not worked for the past nine years due to a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, I am sure I’d be able to make a significant contribution to your team.”  

Although moved by her willingness to disclose such personal information, I informed her that she didn’t need to share her medical history in her application. By the time her resume was finished, the only reference to mental health was a volunteer position she held at Ontario Friends of Schizophrenics.  

I’ve literally seen hundreds, perhaps thousands, of resumes over the years and many of these have been written by new Canadians, unfamiliar with Canadian human rights laws and the potential impact of oversharing personal information. 

Let’s get one thing straight: Nobody needs to know your religion, your marital status, how many children you have or any other personal data that isn’t directly related to the job you’re applying for. In fact, sharing this information on a resume or during a job interview could actually hurt your chances of being hired. 

The number one reason people disclose personal information is to receive job accommodations. Accommodations are legally-required modifications to either the job description or the work environment that enables an employee to perform the essential duties of the job and in each province employers are legally bound by a Duty to Accommodate.  Accommodations are designed to increase productivity and help meet performance standards and will vary according to the person’s unique needs.  

However, employers can legally decline an accommodation request if it is perceived to be unreasonable. Examples of “unreasonable accommodations” could include, eliminating a primary job responsibility, lowering production standards applied to other workers or changing a worker’s supervisor.  

What you disclose is almost as important as to whom and when and will vary depending upon your own comfort levels, relevance to the job, if the workplace is unionized, cultural constraints and a host of other variables. It’s important to get to know the workplace culture, develop some relationships with key allies, familiarize yourself with policy around accommodations and learn some basic information about your human rights.  

There is likely no ideal time to disclose personal information. Try to frame your situation as positively as possible; offer solutions in terms of what accommodations have worked in the past and focus on how accommodations have increased productivity. Wherever possible, state your needs in writing.  

There’s no doubt that disclosing personal information can be nerve wracking to say the least, and you have no idea how your employer is going to respond. On the other hand an employer can’t possibly accommodate what they don’t know about and it’s generally a good idea to be as proactive as possible. When framed through an informed lens with solution-based responses disclosure can bring about peace of mind and confidence that you have a lot to contribute to an organization.