Can HR Legally Ask the Questions That Applicants with Disabilities Want to Be Asked?
- Topics:
- Disabilities
- Tags:
- Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA),
- Applicant,
- Disability,
- Gender And Diversity,
- Human Resources
- Source:
- Crain Communications
FREE Registration is required
Vendor Registration: required
Overview: The article starts with the fact that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the general rule, familiar to human resources professionals, is that an employer may not ask "disability-related" questions until after it makes a conditional job offer to an applicant. But there are exceptions to the general rule, some of which apply to the proposed questions. To determine whether these questions are lawful, the article distinguishes between three different situations during the pre-offer stage. In the first, the applicant voluntarily discloses a hidden disability. In the second, the applicant does not voluntarily disclose, but the employer believes that the applicant will need reasonable accommodation because the disability is obvious. In the third, the applicant does not disclose any disability and the disability is not obvious. Exceptions to the general rule prohibiting pre-offer disability-related questions provide interviewers with limited leeway.
(Is this item miscategorized? Does it need more tags? Let us know.)
Format: HTML | Date: Aug 2002 | Pages: 1
