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Do you have to tell an employer you're disabled?

It's your choice. Here's what employers can ask, and what to weigh up.

No - it's your choice whether and when to tell an employer. In England, Scotland and Wales, before a job offer an employer can only ask about your health or disability for limited reasons (GOV.UK: disability rights). Northern Ireland has its own disability discrimination law - the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland can advise.

What an employer can ask about, and why

According to GOV.UK, you can only be asked about your health or disability:

  • to help decide if you can carry out a task that is an essential part of the work
  • to help find out if you can take part in an interview
  • to help decide if the interviewers need to make reasonable adjustments for you in a selection process
  • to help monitoring
  • if they want to increase the number of disabled people they employ
  • if they need to know for the purposes of national security checks

Things to weigh up

  • An employer needs to know about your needs to make adjustments for you
  • You can share only what's relevant to the job or the adjustment
  • You can tell them at any point - when you apply, after an offer, or once you've started

On GetMeHired

GetMeHired doesn't ask about your health, and you don't need to include it in your CV or answers. If you'd like adjustments, ask the employer you're applying to and say what would help. If something about your health comes up in a screening, neither we nor the employer should use it to make decisions (our privacy policy). We can't control what an employer does with information you give them directly.

Questions people ask

Can an employer ask about my health on an application form?

In England, Scotland and Wales, only for limited reasons, such as working out whether you need adjustments for the selection process or whether you can do a task that is essential to the job (GOV.UK: disability rights).

Should I mention a disability in a screening?

Only if you want to. If it comes up, neither GetMeHired nor the employer should use it to make decisions. If you need the screening to work differently, ask for an adjustment.

Sources

Last reviewed 20 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

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More guides: Asking for adjustments when you apply · Access to Work: support to get or stay in work · Your rights as a disabled jobseeker · Disability Confident employers: what it means · Screening and accessibility on GetMeHired.
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