Resources for Disclosure & Accommodations at Work
Navigating if, when and how to disclose disability status at work is a personal decision and can be difficult.
People often choose to or need to disclose their disability status to request job accommodations, to access benefits or privileges available to everyone or to explain a circumstance.
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In some cases, people may not need to or may not want to disclose. There can also be stigmas, bias and misinformation to contend with when people do disclose.
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Explore resources and share your tips below.
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Also keep in mind that ADA is the floor, not the ceiling (meaning, the ADA is the basic foundation that employers should be using as a starting point for further solutions).
JAN Resources
JAN (Job Accommodation Network) provides many resources related to disclosure and accommodations at work, including a video training module titled Disclosing a Disability in the Workplace. JAN is an initiative of the US Department of Labor and as such provides a perspective that primarily focuses on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other US legal rights and responsibilities.
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JAN also provides free consultations for individuals and employers related to workplace accommodations and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) via phone, TTY and live chat, access their website for more information.
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View Disclosure Module Video. Length: 15 minutes.
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Download accessible transcript.
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Additional JAN Resources:
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Need ideas for accommodations that may be supportive for your situation?
JAN's A to Z Accommodations Search provides listings by disability, topic, and limitation that included example situations and accommodation ideas. This can be helpful for individuals and employers to use individually or collaboratively.
Share your tips or experience
Do you have any tips, pros and cons or stories to share about disclosure at work? Add them below.
Input your tips or experience in the box below, then select the arrow button to add them to the Tips From the Community list shown on this page. Please do not include any personal identifiable information, there is an 150 character limit.
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Tips From the Community |
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Before sharing about your disability status, it can be helpful to think about what your goals are with disclosing. |
Facts and Statistics
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Most US employers report no cost or low cost for accommodating employees with disabilities (JAN, 2023)
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A 2023 survey of 28,000 global employees in 16 countries found that 25% of people said they have a disability or health condition that limits a major life activity even though most organizations report that their workforce includes an average of 4% to 7% of people with disabilities (Wool et al., 2023).
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In a 2013 study, people with a disability identified the following as the most important factors that might pose a barrier when deciding to disclose a disability to an employer: the risk of being fired/not hired (73.0 % rated this as “very important”), concern that the employer may focus on disability (62.0 %), the individual may lose health care benefits (61.5 %), have limited promotion opportunities (61.1 %), the supervisor may not be supportive (60.1 %), being treated differently by supervisor/co-workers (57.8 %) and being viewed differently by supervisor/co-workers (53.8 %) (Von Schrader et al., 2013).
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Some additional factors people considered which would encourage disclosure included: flexible work opportunities (e.g., part-time, work from home, flexible schedule, flexible leave policy), disability awareness training offered to all employees in the workplace, HR personnel who are familiar with disability and accommodations, and a fair system for submitting grievances. Some respondents noted the importance of having accessible websites and facilities, supporting diversity more generally (e.g., racial diversity) and supporting and participating in community awareness event/activities (Von Schrader et al., 2013).
Additional Resources
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Equip For Equality - Disclosing Your Disability Fact Sheet (USA)
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Return on Disability - Accommodations and Productivity: The case against disclosure (Canada)
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Gray (2020) - Disclosure of disability in the Australian Public Service: What the statistics tell us
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University of Washington - Students Guide to Disclosure in the Workplace PDF