Pre-Employment Disability Discrimination
Disability discrimination doesn’t just happen after you’re hired. It can also happen during the pre-employment application process and it’s illegal. The following is what the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) tells employers.
Practice tip: Focus application and interview questions on non-medical job qualifications. An employer may ask a wide range of questions designed to determine an applicant’s qualifications for a job.
- Whether s/he has the right education, training, and skills for the position.
- Whether s/he can satisfy the job’s requirements or essential functions (describe them to the applicant).
- How much time off the applicant took in a previous job (but not why), the reason s/he or she left a previous job, and any past discipline.
Examples of what you can’t ask:
- questions about an applicant’s physical or mental impairment or how s/he became disabled (for example: questions about why the applicant uses a wheelchair);
- questions about an applicant’s use of medication;
- questions about an applicant’s prior workers’ compensation history.
Exception to the Rules: Where it seems likely that an applicant has a disability that will require a reasonable accommodation, you may ask whether s/he will need one. This is an exception to the usual rule that questions regarding disability and reasonable accommodation should come after making a conditional job offer.
Example: During a job interview, you may ask a blind applicant interviewing for a position that requires working with a computer whether s/he will need a reasonable accommodation, such as special software that will read information on the screen.
Before you begin the job hunting process, arm yourself ahead of time with legal tactics to recognized and then stop a potential employer from discriminating against you. Believe me, their heads will spin when you lay your cards on the table. Or, if you suspect you were discriminated against because of a disability during a job interview or were turned down for a job interview because of it, know your rights and what you can do to get legal revenge. Get Work Laws Exposed now. It’s available for instant download.
