Students Guide to Disclosure in the Workplace

When you leave school and enter the workforce, you are required to share information about your disability if you want your employer to provide you with reasonable accommodations. The laws require that qualified applicants and employees with disabilities be provided with reasonable accommodations. Yet, in order to benefit from the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act, you must disclose your disability. An employer is only required to provide work-related accommodations if you disclose your disability to the appropriate individuals.

This Guide to Disclosure in the Workplace explores how and when to disclose, and provides five tips for requesting reasonable accommodation.

For more information and advice, see these sources:

• Social Security Administration — Talking about Disability Disclosure 
• MoneyGeek — Workers with Disabilities & The ADA
• Job Accommodation Network — Disability Disclosure & Employment
• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission — Job Applicants and the ADA
• Interactive Autism Network — To Tell or not to Tell: Disclosing a Disability in the Workplace
• U.S. Department of Labor — Youth, Disclosure and the Workplace: Why, When, What, and How