Disability and your career: Employment strategies for success

Work-life balance. It’s one of the buzziest corporate terms of our time, increasingly bubbling up in coffee shop convos and group chats even before the pandemic redefined what it means to have a healthy relationship with our jobs.

But for people who live with a disability—roughly 13% of the U.S. population, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)—balancing professional and personal responsibilities isn’t so much about managing two aspects of your life. It’s about making space and acknowledging your disability.

“Disability is a part of diversity, equity, and inclusion, whether we recognize it or not,” says Kevin Irvine, senior talent acquisition consultant for individuals with disabilities at a university medical center in Chicago.

Securing a job, making a career change, and negotiating workplace dynamics is hard enough. Adding a disability to the mix—whether it’s a new or lifelong condition—could be enough to make you feel lost or excluded.

That feeling of exclusion is a reality for many. The unemployment rate for disabled Americans is double that of people without disabilities in 2024, according to the BLS—8.8% versus 4.4% for people without disabilities, aged 16 to 64. The good news? Employment for people with disabilities is steadily rising. In July 2024, also per the BLS, 36.9% of the disabled population aged 16 to 64 was employed. This was just slightly below the number from June, when 37.6% of people with disabilities were employed—among the highest ratios on record.

For better or for worse, navigating employment for people with disabilities often requires relentless self-advocacy and hard work. To lessen the load, we’ve tackled the key questions—and provided a list of useful resources at the end of this article—to help you address any challenges, no matter where you are in your career journey.

What are my rights as someone with a disability?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) aims to prevent discrimination in areas like education and employment, parking and transportation, voting and using social services, shopping, and surfing the web. The ADA is a federal law, not a benefits program—meaning you don’t need to apply for coverage.

Tip: Passed in 1990 and amended in 2008, the ADA is a valuable resource for all Americans with disabilities. You can access the full document here.

Title I of the ADA addresses employment rights for people with disabilities. It applies to employers with 15 or more employees and includes state and local governments, employment agencies, and labor unions. It ensures that someone with a disability who is qualified for a job has the same access as anyone else to all the benefits and opportunities of that job. That means employees with a disability are covered in areas like recruitment and hiring, promotions and pay, job training, and even social activities in the workplace.

The Rehabilitation Act, meanwhile, protects federal employees (such as postal workers and IRS agents) and federal contractors and subcontractors (such as some construction workers and IT specialists) from disability-related discrimination. Additionally, employers with ties to the government must take affirmative action to recruit, hire, promote, and retain people with disabilities.

Am I disabled, according to the law?

The definition of disability is intentionally broad in an effort to provide a wide range of coverage. The ADA considers a person to be disabled if one or more of these apply:

• You have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
• You have a record of such an impairment.
• You’re regarded as having an impairment.

A substantial limitation doesn’t need to be complete, constant, or severe. And even if someone with a disability can mitigate their limitations, such as with hearing aids or a mobility device, the person is still regarded as disabled.

What employment barriers might I face?

People with a disability may face different obstacles to securing work, keeping a job, doing their job well, and feeling safe at work. And different kinds of barriers can often work together to have a cascading effect, possibly leading to a sense of exclusion or a lack of inclusion.

• Physical infrastructure: Employers must ensure equal access at work sites and beyond, including parking lots, entrances and emergency exits, conference rooms and shared workspaces, personal workspaces, hallways, stairwells, restrooms, and elevators.
• Technological infrastructure: Workplace technology should be either directly accessible or compatible with assistive technology. This includes email, internet, and software applications; telecommunications and video products; desktop computers, and laptops and printers. Online job applications should also be accessible (or compatible with assistive technology), and reasonable accommodations should be made for applicants who request them.
• Attitudinal barriers: These include stereotypes, biases, and misconceptions that may hinder the inclusion of people with a disability in the workplace.

While the ADA states that employers must provide equal access to individuals with disabilities, barriers themselves—particularly physical and technological obstacles—can exist on an individual, case-by-case basis. Further, the abstract nature of attitudinal barriers is far too nuanced to be formally regulated. At the end of the day, people with disabilities will need to be prepared to advocate for themselves.

According to Irvine, attitudinal biases are, without a doubt, the biggest barrier that people with disabilities face. “Attitudes that either actively ignore accessibility and inclusion, or that don’t take the necessary steps to make sure processes are inclusive, create barriers that don’t have to be there,” he says.

Employers that want to knock down barriers should educate all their employees about people’s rights to accommodations and confidentiality. “You may not always know why someone’s getting a different work environment, and that’s okay,” Irvine says. “You don’t have a right to know everything. But again, the more people are visible, the more understanding we will create around the spectrum of disability.”

When and how should I disclose my disability to my employer?

The only time you typically need to disclose a disability to your employer or potential employer—according to the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a free service of the Department of Labor—is if you require an accommodation. You can do this at any stage of employment, whether that’s five minutes or five years after you’re hired.

Here are three ways to set yourself up for success when sharing about a disability at work:

1. Be intentional

Have an action-oriented reason to disclose your disability. If you choose to discuss a limitation without offering a solution, your manager probably won’t know what to do with that information. Offer a specific request for accommodation or a work-related adjustment so your manager knows how to help. You’re the one who knows your abilities best, after all.

2. Be authoritative

You can’t control how someone responds to your disclosure. But you can control what you say and how you say it, Irvine says. Showing confidence—even if you don’t feel it—goes a long way.

“People take their cues about how to respond to your identity disclosure from you,” he says. “When you demonstrate self-assuredness and show you understand yourself, your disability, and what you need to be successful, people can feel that and feed off it.”

Talking about yourself to a potential employer is your opportunity to be in charge of your narrative. “I’ve found that when you leave things out of your story, people tend to fill in those gaps with their imagination,” Irvine adds. That applies to many areas—from a disability to gaps in your work history.

3. Practice talking about it

“I think everyone has a ‘muscle’ for talking about their disability, but it atrophies when they don’t use it,” Irvine says. “But the more you do it, the stronger it gets.”

Try exercising that muscle in other areas of your life. Talking about your disability with friends, family, or even strangers on the bus or at the grocery store can help you build confidence in your ability to explain your needs to an employer.

“It can feel really good to have people know your story,” Irvine says. “It can be uncomfortable at first, for sure. But it gets easier the longer you do it. And your experience year five of being public with your disability is going to be very different than your experience year one.”

Am I required to discuss my disability?

The ADA prohibits employers from asking nonvoluntary questions about a disability on an application. After you’ve received an offer, your potential employer may ask disability-related questions only if they ask the same questions of all people who do that job. Per the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), your employer may ask for disability information once you’ve begun working only if their request is “job-related and consistent with business necessity.”

Federal agencies hiring contractors, meanwhile, are required to invite applicants to self-identify any disability during the application process, after a job offer is extended, and again every five years. While you aren’t required to answer, this information, if disclosed, must be kept separate from your records and cannot be used to inform job decisions, such as performance reviews.

If an employer asks you to disclose a disability, it must clearly state that:

• The information is requested only to help the employer fulfill its affirmative action efforts.
• Disclosure is voluntary.
• Employees’ responses are confidential.
• There’s no penalty for not answering.

There’s a difference between whether you must disclose a disability and if you should. The pros of disclosure far outweigh the cons, says Irvine, who lives openly with chronic health conditions. However, these benefits might not be obvious until you decide to discuss your needs.

“The more we disclose, the more we find connections we didn’t know existed,” he says. “Just as you may find people with a negative bias, you’re also likely to find people with a positive bias—people that have a connection to disability, maybe even your specific disability.” By not sharing, Irvine explains, you could be missing out on an opportunity to get crucial support that might make your employment experience easier and more enjoyable.

What is a reasonable accommodation, and how do I ask for one?

A reasonable accommodation, per the EEOC, is anything that allows you to perform the job’s essential functions, doesn’t fundamentally change the nature of the job, and doesn’t cause the employer undue hardship—meaning it won’t be overly difficult or expensive.

Reasonable accommodations should be flexible, Irvine says. “If you’ve got 20 people with the same disability, they may need 20 different accommodations. And some of them may need no accommodations at all.”

Accommodations shouldn’t be viewed as “special treatment,” and many are relatively simple and inexpensive. Often, they benefit all employees. Follow these tips, and you might find that securing an accommodation at work is easier than you thought:

1. Ask away

Accommodations—like disabilities themselves—are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. But remember: Your employer isn’t obligated to provide any accommodation unless you’ve asked for one, according to the EEOC. It’s also important to request an accommodation before there’s a negative impact on your job performance, not after. If you received disciplinary action before your employer was aware of your disability, it isn’t required to rescind it. 

If you think you might be eligible for an accommodation at work, there’s no harm in asking. Keep in mind that employers are free to provide accommodations even if you don’t meet the ADA’s definition of disabled. Open up a dialogue and see what happens.

2. Document everything

While not required, putting your initial accommodation request in writing is wise. It gives you the time and space to communicate your needs while eliminating the pressure and unpredictability of a face-to-face interaction. More importantly, it establishes a record of your request.

Reinforcing any verbal commitments in writing also helps ensure your needs are understood and met, Irvine says. “Not everyone communicates clearly. Asking clarifying questions is a way to ensure you correctly understand what they’ve intended to communicate.”

He suggests sending an email post-discussion stating, “On this date, we talked about X, and you said X, Y, and Z. Is my understanding of what you said correct?” Not only are you making sure everyone’s message was received, but it also alerts your employer that you’re logging the conversations for possible future reference.

Documentation can also provide protection if your supervisor changes. A great setup you may have with your current supervisor could shift if a new boss is less understanding about your accommodation. “You can request a change in supervision style, but you can’t request a change in supervisor as an accommodation,” Irvine says. Having an agreement in writing can help ensure your needs continue to be met.

Finally, it’s important to document any instances of discriminatory treatment, from emails to summaries of relevant conversations. While you hope to never have to deal with such events, you should retain a paper trail if you do. 

3. Be open-minded

The ADA doesn’t guarantee that every accommodation request will be granted. Irvine says it’s an interactive process by design. “If you say, ‘I want X,’ they say, ‘Let’s try Y,’ and you simply say no, that’s not exactly participating in the interactive process.” If your employer offers an alternate accommodation that could be effective, you should give it a go, unless you know—and can prove—that you’ve tried that strategy in the past to no avail.

Not seeing eye to eye with an employer can be challenging. But remember: “Just as you may not have experience asking for accommodations, your employer may not have experience getting a request from someone with your specific disability before,” Irvine adds. “So you have to keep your expectations appropriate and recognize that you could also be educating them.”

How do I find a job that accommodates my interests and my disability?

Job searching for a person with a disability isn’t necessarily different from anyone else’s job search. Most of the same rules apply, even if you may need to consider some additional factors.

1. Look for the right fit

Seek out roles aligning with your skills, qualifications, experience, career goals, and desires. As far as your disability is concerned, you want to find something that requires the fewest number of accommodations needed to get the job done, Irvine says. “For example, if you require a flexible schedule, applying for a job that largely involves a fixed shift will make things tough.” As part of your job hunt, consider looking into organizations that publicize openings for individuals with disabilities, including the Social Security Administration.

2. Research a company’s culture

When seriously considering an employer, look at what they’re putting out on public-facing channels, Irvine says. What does their career page say about their culture and values? What does their website say about their approach toward diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility? “The more you see, the more it gives you a sense of what they understand,” he adds. “And if you see nothing, that tells you something, too.”

Scroll through their social media to see what story they’re telling. If you see yourself represented in their content, that’s a great sign. If there’s no mention of disability, that might raise a red flag. “It could be a community where you have to be more of a pioneer,” Irvine says. “We’re on a marathon journey of understanding and awareness, and sometimes you’re going to have to be the one to move the needle.” If that’s not a role you’re comfortable taking on, you might want to pass.

3. Embrace your ability to have an influence

The power for job seekers has only increased in recent years, Irvine says, with employers struggling to fill certain roles.

If an employer you’re considering doesn’t offer the benefits you’re looking for, let them know that. If a lack of benefits is going to sway your decision, companies should be aware since it might motivate them to do something about it. “Employers need to be competitive,” Irvine says. “Letting them know how they can be competitive for you can be helpful.”

What resources can help me figure all this out?

Plenty of resources are available to help you advocate for yourself and your needs. Here are a few:

The Job Accommodation Network

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, JAN offers free guidance on employment for people with disabilities. Among other things, JAN has a comprehensive A-to-Z library of accommodation information organized by disability, topic, and limitation. Say, for example, you have Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, a neurological disorder that can lead to muscle weakness in the extremities. You can browse JAN’s CMT listing to find common limitations, accommodation ideas, and even product suggestions like grip aids and alternative keyboards.

Ticket to Work

Ticket to Work is a career development and finance program run by the Social Security Administration for people who want or need to continue working but don’t want to lose access to the disability benefits they’re receiving through Social Security. It offers free career counseling, vocational rehabilitation, and job placement with qualified employers. Medicaid or Medicare benefits often continue while you transition to working. If at a later time you’re unable to work again due to your disability, you might be able to quickly resume benefit payments without filing a new application.

Rehabilitation Services Administration

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) provides state governments with grants to help them develop and implement vocational rehabilitation programs and other employment services for people with disabilities. The organization can direct you to each state’s relevant vocational rehabilitation agency, where job seekers and employers can find resources and services.

Making it work: Navigating employment with a disability

Being employed with a disability can have its challenges, but advocating for yourself helps open doors to equitable employment opportunities.

At the end of the day, don’t forget to be kind to yourself, Irvine says. “Give yourself the grace to make mistakes. You won’t always do things as well or as smoothly as you see someone else doing them. It just takes time and a lot of trial and error.”

If you have a disability and are looking for more guidance, make your way through this checklist to get yourself on track financially.

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