The counselor may provide or facilitate placement services for clients.
Disclosure of disability information to employers: Both the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) restrict counselor use of confidential information with employers and in any pre-employment inquiries by employers.
As the employer only needs to know whether the client has any functional limitations which will impact on job tasks, the counselor must limit the discussion to any potential functional limitations that will impact on the client’s ability to perform the job tasks or functions identified by the employer. This discussion may also include identifying reasonable accommodations which have been provided or which could be provided.
An employer cannot ask whether the applicant is a person with a disability. An employer cannot ask about the nature or severity of the disability. However, the employer may make pre-employment inquiry into an applicant’s ability to perform job-related tasks or functions. The employer may ask the applicant to demonstrate or explain how, with or without reasonable accommodation, he or she would perform job-related functions.
Effective Date: October 1, 2003