it it necessary to disclose medical info

shelovestobuystuff

My question is ,is it necessary to disclose medical info on the application form or employee contract.
I interviewed a girl recently for a part-time post and she mentioned that she was recieving disability benefits,when asked what work experience she had had in the past if any she said she had not been allowed to work since she was 17(she is now in her mid thirties)because of the disability,but then went on to say she is not actually disabled.
So I am a bit confused here especially as she left the medical,health issues,and support needs section of the application form blank.
Is it in fact optional to disclose medical info which may affect the persons ability to work or the support they might need.I am especially concerned as she herself told me she has not been allowed to work since the age of 17 and ommitted the reason why.
I dont even know if insurance would cover her or us if anything happened as a result of the disability as its not been disclosed on the form.

Weirdlittleman

I would suggest it is because how on earth can you deal with DDA etc. If I was you I would stay well away and not even mention the disability in the rejection.

The PC brigade will be along in disgust shortly but if the woman isnt willing to give all relevent information and has no work history I wouldnt touch with a bargepole.

lucylucky

Yes it is necessary to disclose any information that may have a bearing on an applicant's ability to carry out their job.

MrsManda

I don't believe it is a requirement to declare a medical condition or disability but if a person doesn't declare it they are unlikely to be able to claim later that they have been discriminated against under DDA.
However if she left the health/medical section of her application blank does this mean she signed a document stating that she had no disability/medical condition?

Refusing to give you any details of her condition yet using it as a reason for leaving her entire work history blank is I think a good enough reason to not employ her as she has not given a satisfactory explanation of what has changed to mean she is now eligible to work.

In terms of your insurance, the fact that she states that she has not worked for so long due to illness means that if you chose to employ her you could require her to do an occupation health assessment as a term of employment which would mean that you were covered by your insurance.

crackerberry

From October the law is changing in prespect to this and pre-employment health questionnaires will no longer be allowed. I presume this will apply to health related questions on application forms too, and possibly to interviews as well though not sure about the latter.

From October health related questions can only be asked once a person has secured the job I believe. Once in the post they can ask you to fill out a questionnaire...and would be able to terminate someone's employment then if health wise they were deemed to be unsuitable/unable to do the job, ut they won't be able to do it before that point.

MrsManda

Just to reference Crackerberry's post the Equality Act 2010 can be found HERE
Section 60 Recruitment is the relevant section. Although health questions on applications will no longer be allowed nor will asking about a person's health prior to a job offer, in the case of the OP she would be allowed to ask the applicant whether she would be able to perform duties which vital to the role or to confirm that the applicant would be willing to undergo an occupational assessment prior to an unconditional offer i.e. like with references a job offer could be made on condition of a occupational health assessment.

Garlicbread

I would be more concerned with the persons ability to do the job. Do this person think she is able to do the job?

My understanding is that there is no legal requirement to declare health info at application stage. However, if an application form asks specific information about a health condition, I would always fill it in. Any health condition that could affect the persons ability to do the job should be declared once offered the job. But if a persons condition does not effect their ability it is their own business and they have the right not to tell their employer. If at a later stage the health condition is actually affecting their ability to do the job, and they didn't declare it - I believe employers have the right to terminate employment.

If someone declares their condition and it does affect their ability to do the job and they are disabled under the definition used by the DDA (1995), the employer must make reasonable adjustments for them (assuming they have the skills and experience for the job in question). Except when the organisation has less that 15 staff.

What Crackerberry reports is a result of people with disabilities being denied employment simply because some employers have seen the health info on application form and not offered an interview, despite having the skills and experience needed.