www.pointemagazine.com: I was applying to audition for this ballet company, and the form asked if I had a history of mental issues (i.e., eating disorders, anxiety, depression) and to give a detailed description of them and steps taken for treatment. Is this something that companies normally take into account during auditi
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Mental Illness is a personal thing which many people might be fearful to share and talk about. Yes, there are some people who do not mind sharing about their illness because it taught the people something very important that may carry much value in the concerned person's life. However, according to the general consensus, most people are afraid to share their mental illness history.This is what makes me think that maybe companies should not be allowed to ask a prospective employee about any history of mental illness. There are several reasons for this:
First and most important, it is a personal experience which involves a person's struggles and eventual betterment, something which might prompt people to keep hidden because they would not it to become someone else's business.
Second, people are fearful that any interaction that they might have had with mental illness might hamper their chances for getting the job, a fear which has been proven to exist.
Third, someone's past should not be used a criteria to judge the person's present capabilities and talents. They shoulf be judged on their present scenario and not on what happened in the past.
It is because of these reasons that companies should not be allowed to ask someone's mental illness history.
These are absolutely not an acceptable questions for an employer to be asking, and I can think of very few scenarios where these questions are being asked without problematic intent. Maybe they just want to be prepared to support their potential employees, but if that were the case they should be giving people the option to self-disclose once they are hired. Asking for medical information as part of the hiring process seems more likely than not to be that the employer is trying to weed out employees that they suspect might end up needing to take time off for medical reasons, which is blatantly discriminatory. It doesn’t surprise me that there are companies trying to do this, but I hope people continue to call them out for asking unacceptable questions like this. I’d be curious to see what this company’s defense of why they were asking this question it is, as I honestly can’t think of an excuse that I’d find compelling.
As always, mental illness is such a controversial topic. For employers, they are not allowed to ask about medical history when hiring so that they don’t have a bias against an applicant. This is incredibly important because it offers everyone a fair chance at a job based on skill, which is controllable, and not health, which often is not. I know that people are constantly being judged and stigmatized based on their mental health. However, I do understand why companies might have reluctance about hiring people who have a history of mental illness. Still, employment should be judged on your capabilities and not on your personal life. At the end of the day, so many people are struggling with mental health. There is such a large spectrum to be a part of and it shouldn’t influence a company to hire you or not. We each are capable of being our best, with or without mental illness.
With the recent push to make mental illness more visible, I think that people are blurring the line between what is appropriate to ask about in situations like this and many others. Just because mental health is being talked about more does not give an employer the right to ask about the mental health of a prospective employee, and more than they are allowed to ask whether you're planning on getting pregnant in the next 5 years. This could result in an unfair bias towards the prospective employee. The fact that this ballet company even thought they had the right to bring this up is ridiculous, and a clear sign that this company should be removed from the list of prospective employers. Any employer that insists on knowing your mental health as a part of their interview process clearly does not adequately support their employees, and they're looking for an "easier" group of dancers. If someone is having mental health issues, they're entitled to the same rights someone who was having conventional medical issues would be, and it shouldn't be treated any other way.
Mental health has always been a sort of taboo subject of conversation, even with the recent push to try to get it to a place where people will talk about it. I’ve definitely been hearing more people talk about their own experiences openly, but I know there are still many who don’t want to share. While I can understand the logic behind wanting to ask people about their mental health history when considering hiring them, I don’t think they should be able to. I think that an addition of these kinds of questions into interviews would only add to the stigma surrounding having mental illnesses. The possibility that having a disorder or illness that’s entirely out of your control could lead to you not getting a job would make more people not want to open up and get help. I also think that if you have a mental illness that you’ve recovered from, it shouldn’t be able to affect you now. I’m glad that those kinds of questions are illegal to ask.
This is a very important topic, and one that I feel very strongly about. I have struggled with various mental health disorders, as have many of my friends. That does not make us less effective employees. There is a great deal of stigma surrounding mental health, mental disorders, and therapy, and employment discrimination or even just weariness only serves to worsen that stigma. While I'm not against employers asking questions about employees' mental health (employers' positions of power actually put them in unique positions to help employees in need), those questions absolutely should not be asked before a hiring decision is made, and they should be thoroughly monitored to assure that discrimination is not taking place. With respect to eating disorders in the arts specifically, employers need to be very careful both to remain unbiased when hiring and to be supportive once employees are hired. Occurrence of anorexia and similar disorders is very high among dancers and actors because they are so heavily judged on their bodies, and much higher standards need to be created and maintained by the industry at large to address this problem. Discrimination is not a constructive step to that end.
This is an interesting question. I was not previously aware of these rules, and am confused as to the true law. I have heard that employers are allowed to ask about your previous mental health history to ensure that they meet a disability hiring quota, but I find it hard to think about seeing the question on a form. I personally am fairly open about my history with mental health, however am still wary. I have often felt in jobs that my struggles with mental illness make me less desirable, and that employees that struggle less are better. There is a constant struggle in the mind, regardless of what an employer man or may not think, about a person’s value due to issues they have. I understand why it may want to be asked, and think it valid if it is to the benefit of the applicant, however struggle with accepting the question asked with no background of why. Roles that are about mental illness may be better portrayed by people who truly understand what its like to live with it, and it is important for disabled people to not get left behind. We still have important, real voices, and our disabilities may interfere with our way of comfort in life, but it also means we can bring something to the table that others can not. Employers should think of the applicant when posing difficult questions, and keep it in mind when requesting said information.
This is abhorrent. I cannot possibly imagine that this company does not have a Hiring Manager or Casting Director on staff, and this person surely knows the basics of Equal Opportunity and the Disabilities Act. I believe this was an example of what happens a lot in theatre too, where Directors rely on their actors/dancers/performers not knowing the law, or *not* listening to their gut when it tells them it would be wrong to answer these questions, all because there is a job at stake and they know this could lose it for them. Not only did they ask about her mental health history, but they also asked what specific steps she had taken to address them?! So very not ok, as this immediately colors the performer in the eyes of the Director and others who have voices in the casting decisions. We like to think that mental health is de-stigmatized here in 2018, but it's still very much not. As the writer mentions, if you are unable to do the job listed, then the company is allowed to say that you are not as fit as other candidates and hire someone else. If I am unable to lift 50 lbs and I apply for an ASM position, they are allowed to say I don't meet a basic job requirement. This has nothing to do, however, with my mental health history, nor should it.
Wait a second. The article points out that the questions regarding mental health are illegal which is great, but it does state that the director is still able to make inquires on a dancer's health. It states, "Directors are legally allowed to condition a job offer on the applicant answering health history questions (or even request a medical examination) once they extend a contract and before employment begins—but only if the same applies to all other newly hired dancers. Even then, they can't withdraw an offer without evidence that you're unable to perform your job or that you pose a direct threat to yourself or others." That is still really terrible that they are allowed to do this. I don't understand how doctor patient privilege doesn't come into effect here--also you are hiring a dancer, not a spy, and I don't see why health history should come into play if the dancer auditioned and was cast. This really feels quite icky, and I really hope that this horrible process has some oversight, though from the sounds of it, I don't think so. If a job offer is conditioned on the dancer responding to questions about medical history, how then can they discriminate based on there responses given? Isn't that also still illegal?
This is a question I have been hearing about a lot lately, and there seems to be a lot of confusion about what the answer actually is. I think this article does a pretty good job of making ti clear that during an interview or audition these types of questions are one hundred percent illegal and are not allowed to be asked by employers. I do think that the article's mention of the employer's ability to ask those questions after hiring is confusing. Yes, employers are able to ask disability related questions that ask about the person's ability to perform all job functions, which can also request a physical exam to make sure physically someone can meet job requirements, but they are still not allowed to discriminate based on that information. They may only take back the offer in the event that the person does not meet all of the job requirements with reasonable accommodation.
I agree with Julian that this is absolutely unacceptable. Without focusing too much on my own personal history, a thing that is discussed often in the treatment of mental health is that you are not your illness. Being forced to disclose it would undermine all of this positive work people are doing in their personal treatment. If an employee feels they need support from their employer, they can/will go to them, privately disclose their condition, and request the necessary accommodations, as we have on-campus with Disability Resources. But if the employee does not wish to disclose their medical history, I cannot think of a good reason that the employer should force them to. I think it would be wonderful if employers focused on providing visible accommodations for employees with mental illness and creating a culture where employees feel comfortable disclosing their illness and asking for helping instead of targeting people during their interviews when the power dynamic between employer and (potential) employee is as skewed as it will ever be.
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