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Job Interview Pointers: Know Your Rights A job interview can be a nerve-racking experience for anyone. If you're a job-seeker, you're naturally concerned about the impression you'll make. What questions will I be asked? Do I have the right qualifications for this job? What if I have to answer questions about my health?
If you have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), you should be aware that the federal government's Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has established specific guidelines that employers must follow when interviewing job applicants. Next time you apply for a job, keep the following in mind:
- It is against the law for employers to ask your age, sexual preference, or whether you have a physical disability. In fact, even if an applicant's disability is obvious, the ADA prohibits asking about the severity of the condition. Employers cannot ask such questions as:
- Are you in good health?
- Have you seen a physician or received medical treatment in the past 10 years?
- Do you have diabetes, heart problems, IBD, etc.?
- Have you ever made a claim for worker's compensation?
- Even if you tell a prospective employer that you have IBD, he cannot ask such questions. He can, however, ask what accommodations he may need to make to help you perform the job (e.g., providing easy access to a restroom).
- An employer is allowed to ask whether you have a physical condition that may affect your ability to do the required job. You may be tested to determine your ability to perform specific tasks that are essential to the job (e.g., if the job requires you to lift heavy equipment, an appropriate test can be given). It is important to keep in mind that all applicants for the job must be tested, not just those that the employer may suspect of having a disability.
- Companies may reserve the right to make a tentative offer of employment, contingent on the results of a medical examination. Remember, the only purpose of this physical is to evaluate your ability to perform the job -- and it cannot be given before the tentative job offer is made. Further, all newly hired employees must be subjected to the same tests, and the information must be kept confidential.
- The results of this medical exam cannot be used to disqualify a person for the job unless it proves that he cannot perform the essential skills required for that position -- even after "reasonable accommodation" is made for his disability. You may also be disqualified for a job if the employer can prove that it would create "undue hardship" for the business (e.g., financial expense, complicated alterations in the work environment) to accommodate your condition (e.g., job restructuring, modified work schedule, purchase of devices to accommodate disability, etc.).
If you are not hired and want to know whether the results of the physical influenced the employer's decision, you have a right to ask for a copy. If you feel that you were the victim of discrimination based on your disability, the ADA gives you the right to challenge the employer's decision.
For more information about your rights as an IBD patient and a member of the workforce (or not), check out the latest edition of Jennifer Jaff's Know Your Rights: A Handbook for Patients with Chronic Illness. Jennifer Jaff is an attorney with years of experience representing IBD patients, in addition to being an IBD patient herself.
Date Posted: September 1, 2005 |
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