Mental Illness Disclosure in the Workplace: An Opportunity for Improvement

Abstract

Background: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination based on physical or mental disabilities and requires that employers provide reasonable accommodations to workers with disabilities who can perform their essential job functions. However, the ADA also states that an employer is not required to hire or keep an individual with a psychiatric disability if it poses a direct threat to his or her safety or the safety of others.

Objectives: To identify employers' disclosure requirements for mental illness diagnosis or treatment during the job application process and/or as a condition of ongoing employment, to determine disclosure requirements of state and federal licensing bodies, and to evaluate the legality of disclosure of mental health status.

Methods: We conducted an Internet-based search to identify public and private employers' disclosure requirements based on 4 keyword combinations, including "employment/mental health," "employment/mental illness," "license application/mental illness," and "license application/mental health." Other employers were included based on known federal and/or state certification requirements or a governing body policy for employee suitability and fitness. A panel of 3 investigators reviewed the data and analyzed the key findings, industry trends, and workplace implications.

Results: Of the 23 industries (eg, construction, government, military, transportation) investigated, 5 were public and 18 were private. Public employees and government-regulated companies often required disclosure of mental health conditions because of the nature of the work. Private companies showed more variability than public in whether applications contained disclosure requirements, some of which were not compliant with the ADA regulations.

Conclusion: Across the United States, job applicants and workers are often asked to disclose mental health status as a condition of employment. Consequently, applicants and workers may hide mental health issues, resulting in the underuse of mental health resources by those in need.

Keywords: ADA compliance; Americans with Disabilities Act; disability; discrimination; employees; employers; mental health disclosure; mental illness; workplace.