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Print this PageArgument for Pre-emptive Disclosure and Request for Accommodation by the Job Candidate - Richard Pimentel from Milt Wright and Associates
"Disclosure in the workplace is a personal choice. Making this choice particularly during the interview phase is challenging for many people. Yet, it is a choice that most people with a disability will face during their career.
While people may differ as to whether one should or should not disclose, Richard Pimentel, a nationally renowned expert on disability management, workers' compensation cost containment, rehabilitation, and job retention in the workplace and Senior Partner of Milt Wright & Associates, argues that job candidates should both bring up their disability during the job interview and be prepared to suggest appropriate accommodations. He suggests that candidates be both proactive and positive during the interview by telling the employer about any accommodations that they will need and how the accommodations will enable them to do the job.
Mr. Pimentel argues for what he calls 'pre-emptive accommodation' since employers are too afraid to ask about how the person with a disability will do the job. Even though the ADA and EEOC technical assistance manuals inform employers that it is legal to do so.
Richard believes that it is important for job developers, One-Stop staff, Disability Navigators, etc., to inform and train job candidates with disabilities:
- To find out what the employer's concerns are going to be related to the disability,
- To find out what the accommodation needs to be (Call JAN) and do this before the interview,
- And, during the interview be ready to educate the employer about how the accommodation that will enable the person with a disability to perform the job."
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