Mental Health Disclosure: A Case Study

Kerri was working full-time when she started to experience feelings of sadness, anxiety, and irritability. She felt guilty because she kept making mistakes at work, and as such, she resigned from her position to focus on her wellbeing.

Kerri took three months off work, and with the help of her GP and psychologist, she became well again and was ready to return to work.

“I attended 15 interviews and when I was asked why I had taken 3 months off, I answered honestly – “because of stress”. I kept getting rejected and began to feel hopeless, and felt that I should probably not disclose my mental health challenges anymore. I struggled with this because it felt dishonest, but I also had to earn a living.”

Kerri attended another two interviews and got both jobs – she did not mention stress.

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Did Kerri do the right thing?

Kerri was not legally required to disclose her recent mental health challenges to a potential employer. Given the stigma associated with mental health illness, many candidates choose to avoid mental health disclosure prior to employment, in fear of not being considered for the role. 

The issue of requesting medical information from job applicants is one that should be approached with caution. Requests for information about mental health should be treated in a similar way to requests for information about physical illness. Employers have a right to ask questions about mental health condition for ‘legitimate purposes only’.

According to HeadsUp, legitimate questions are:

• To determine whether the person can perform the inherent requirements of the job.
• To identify any reasonable adjustments that may be needed, either in the selection and recruitment process, or in the work environment and role.
• To establish facts for entitlements such as sick leave, superannuation, workers’ compensation and other insurance.
• If a prospective employee does disclose a mental health challenge, employers are obliged to respect the privacy of the candidate and must not distribute any information without consent.
• A job offer might be conditional or unconditional, and an employer can make a conditional offer on medical check but they would need to show any reasons for withdrawing a job offer are not discriminatory.

If employers choose to use a health questionnaire, or have the prospective employee undertake a medical, it should be emphasised that the reason is to ascertain whether potential staff have any health issues that, without support, could affect their ability to fulfil the duties of their new role or place them at any risk in the workplace.

Suitable questions to ask:

• Do you have any (physical and/or mental) health condition(s) or disability which may affect you performing in this role (based on what you know from the job description, interview, and any previous experience)?
• Do you think you may need any adjustments or assistance to help you to do the job? If so, please give suggestions so we can discuss suitable changes with you.

Questions to avoid asking:

• Is there any history in your family of mental health issues?
• Do you suffer from, or have you ever experienced, any of the following? [With an exhaustive tick box list of conditions, for example depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder…]
• Are you taking any tablets or medications?
• Have you consulted a doctor in the last two years?

Experience of poor mental health is not an indicator of poor performance, so it’s important that employers do not discriminate (consciously or unconsciously) against people based on prejudiced or unjustified assumptions. This may be direct discrimination under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth), but it also doesn’t make good business sense to disregard someone who may have all of the valuable skills and talent needed for the position.

Recruitment should focus on hiring the most suitable candidate for the job. Therefore, appointment decisions should be objective and based on whether candidates have the necessary competence and potential required for the role.

Book a workplace mental health course or workshop with us

Learn more about the legalities and ethical standards around mental health disclosure in the workplace with Mentally Well Workplaces. We offer both in-person and online mental health inductions, workshops and Mental Health First Aid courses for workplaces across Australia.