Disability Rating (sc)...do You Have To Disclose To Employer?

[MDB1968NM]

Hi everyone,

If this is not the right area then Mods please move this.

If someone is applying for a job after military retirement and they are disabled (SC), does that have to be disclosed to the employer?  The reason I ask is that many govt jobs ask if you are applying for preference.  Would the employer need to know what your disabilities are, OR, would they just have to know your rating percentage if that?

I would think that some employers might hold having a disability against the potential job seeker in certain instances.  Has anyone had any direct experience with this?

Thanks for the information in advance!

;)

[broncovet]

To Disclose or Not to Disclose is a subject often brought up by many disabled groups. Some disabilities are quite visible, such as an amputee, while other disabilities are what we call invisible.

Visible Disabilities: Not really much point..you might as well disclose and you may even find a potential sympathetic employer who actually does give 10 points preference to disabled Vets.

Invisible Disabilities: In short, you decide. Weigh the plusses and minuses of disclosing your disability to a potential employer:

Plus: As above, you may find the rare employer who actually follows ADA/Veterans Preference/ Disabled Veteran Preference

If you are hired, and you need time off to go to doc, you are more likely to get it if you disclose.

You can ask for a "reasonable accomodation" to your disability, but it will be hard to do this if you do not disclose.

Minus: FAct: Disabled individuals unemployment rates are 3 to 10 times higher than non disabled. This means they wont hire you in spite of the laws.

If you bring up your disability, your employer will want to talk about it in detail, and you wont get a chance to discuss your abilities.

If you do get hired, other employees will often use it against you. "The only reason he got promoted was because of his wheelchair".

The employer will often worry about your accomodations and not hire you because he is not sure he can accomodate your disabilities.

You may have to answer questions you may not want to answer that are brought up when you disclose.

If your disability is mental, such as depression or PTSD, the employer may not hire you because he fears for other employees or customers safety if you "go off" such as the disgruntled Chuck E Cheese employee who shot several other employees.

You will often be offered a lower salary, if offered a job at all because people often perceive others with disabilities as not being capable of anything more than menial tasks such as packing light bulbs in boxes.

Often you will be underestimated because of your disability and you will have to work much harder to make up for it.

Your employer/coworker may want to "diagnose" you. That is, "YOu dont look depressed to me..have you tried St. John's Wort?" or "Look on the positive side..things will get better"

Others may fear you..especially with mental health issues. It will be especially hard to communicate in this environment, and your job, if you get it, will be exceedingly difficult.

Some may be jealous if they perceive that you are being compensated for your disability, even if rated at zero percent.

[iraqx2]

As a recent aggressive job seeker and have gone to several interviews, it depends on the job you are applying to disclose your SC Disability. If it is a government job, yes, because preference is involved. And with preference, you are protected under the laws and policies governed by OPM ( though I think the Fed Hiring system is a fraud , LOL ). If you can ever proved that preference was not used ( yes, good luck with proving an agency was wrong ), you can actually sue them.

If it is a private employer, I may think twice. Unless your disabilities are obvious and blatant, of course disclose your disability. If it effects your job and the safety of others, disclose as well. I just believe that if people don't need to know, they should not. It has been my own experience. The scary reality we are living in right now is that employers are looking for " drama " free employees, especially in this tight job market. And unfortunately, some don't even care if you are a Veteran, let alone a disabled one. It can be a double edge sword.

Regardless, good luck.

[Hoppy]

Larry,

The name of the program is Dragon. I bought it at Fry's electronics. It had trouble with your name. However, it picked up on Fry's electronics with no problem. The more I use the program the better it works. I originally had to train the program by reading pre-existing documents provided by the software. It updates every time you close the program based on your most recent writings. You can also tell the program to read files typed and are stored on your computer. Thus, it learns your writing style and the types of words and phrases you have used in the past. It works best in word. When I try to type correctly into the boxes on a hadits website it does get confused. So I just type everything in word and copy and paste onto the Internet.

It has a lot of features that I still don't understand. I am trying to learn everything that it does. I'm just glad I found the program. It cost 200 bucks. Or I can say that cost $200.

[Rshen1]

Greetigs,

I am applying for a goverment job now. I am a 40% disabled veteran but i am not applying as a Disabled veteran so there is no 10 points disabled Preferance invloved.

Do i still have to disclose?

I also thing that the Fed hiring is a fraud.. that is why i dont apply as a disabled vet..

As a recent aggressive job seeker and have gone to several interviews, it depends on the job you are applying to disclose your SC Disability. If it is a government job, yes, because preference is involved. And with preference, you are protected under the laws and policies governed by OPM ( though I think the Fed Hiring system is a fraud , LOL ). If you can ever proved that preference was not used ( yes, good luck with proving an agency was wrong ), you can actually sue them.

If it is a private employer, I may think twice. Unless your disabilities are obvious and blatant, of course disclose your disability. If it effects your job and the safety of others, disclose as well. I just believe that if people don't need to know, they should not. It has been my own experience. The scary reality we are living in right now is that employers are looking for " drama " free employees, especially in this tight job market. And unfortunately, some don't even care if you are a Veteran, let alone a disabled one. It can be a double edge sword.

Regardless, good luck.

[john999]

I would not lie on the application if asked if I am a disabled vet. The whole thing with a disability is "can you do the job with or without accommdation". If nothing about your disability makes it impossible for you to do the main functions of the job they can't legally discriminate. The way it usually works in government and elsewhere is that they will never tell you that they did not hire you because of your disability unless it is obvious like being blind and wanting to drive a truck. Employers are wise to the ADA.

[jbasser]

Greetigs,

I am applying for a goverment job now. I am a 40% disabled veteran but i am not applying as a Disabled veteran so there is no 10 points disabled Preferance invloved.

Do i still have to disclose?

I also thing that the Fed hiring is a fraud.. that is why i dont apply as a disabled vet..

I am going to tell you this so dont take it the wrong way.

What you are doing is foolish. you are in a higher than 10 percent category since you are 40 percent. They cannot discriminate because of a Service conected disability.

Dont let things you have heard or some misdirected thought cost you a Job if you really want it.

You are only hurting yourself.

JBasser