I took a pre-employment physical for a job I don’t really need. There was a long questionnaire asking me if I have or have ever had…a long list of ailments.
I passed the physical as far as my current health and the agility exam (some running, lifting, bending etc…).
But what do I (legally) have to tell them about my past? If I refuse to answer can that be grounds to not hire me? What if I lie and years later they find out I lied. Can that be grounds to fire me? Why am I required to give up my medical privacy for a job? Especially since my current health is excellent?
Pre-employment physicals are pretty much governed by the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)
When I last worked in H/R which was awhile back, (so the laws probably have gotten changed somewhat and made it harder), to have such physicals three basic guidelines had to be followed:
All persons apply for that position had to have the physical.
The results had to be kept seperate from regular employee / applicant files
The result cannot be used to discriminate hiring IF you are covered under the ADA
The idea behind the pre-employment physical is that it should indicate to the prospective employer whether or not they will have to make a reasonable accommodation to hire you
The other idea behind this is to screen out potential abuse. For instance, if an assembly line worker at a factory has to stand eight hours a day and there is no way to provide a chair for him/her, and the applicant says “I can do that,” but the pre-employment physical shows that they have extensive back problems, then the prospective employer knows.
If you refuse to answer questions, you most likely will not be hired. H/R will simply says “The position has been filled internally or the positon was cancelled.”
The physical is part of your employment history so if you lie, you have falsified your employment record and you can be dismissed.
Contingent offers are a bit different. That is the point I brought up “EVERYONE” must go through the process. If they offer you the job on a contingency, then it must be made on a “real” job offer, after they have investigated your background. Such as reference checks and criminal background
It’s not illegal to lie about your health. You won’t be thrown in jail if they find out later that you lied. You would probably lose the job, yes, but the way references work these days, reputable employers will ONLY provide the length of employment and job title. My employer, in fact, outsources their references to a third party. So there is absolutely no risk of getting a bad reference from this place (and most corporate-y places are going that way these days).
On this basis, I would recommend lying through your teeth and decline ANY pre-existing condition, unless you have an obvious physical disability. Everyone else will be. Considering that you attended the physical it sounds like you probably want the job pretty badly, whether you strictly need it or not.
Personally I’d recommend avoiding any employer that required a physical prior to extending an offer of employment, unless you’re a pilot or a physical trainer or something like that which requires stringent physical exertion. A negative answer on a physical cannot be used to help you, it will only hurt your chances of getting the job.
Not really. It’s just a part-time patrol gig with a small village. I want it but not that badly.
Anyway, what about past illnesses? Say I had a stroke 3 years ago (I didn’t). Let’s say I recovered fully and now my weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. are normal and I’m now in good health. Can they use that past illness against me?
Legally? I doubt it. But HR does a lot of things that are in a very grey area, including checking up on applicants’ facebook profiles. They can refrain from extending an employment offer for any reason. The onus is on the applicant to prove something in violation of a civil right. And that won’t happen unless you have a loose-lipped interviewer (extreeeemely unlikely).
Just be smart about it. Is it ok to own up to occasional colds or the flu? Of course. But as far as they’re concerned, you’ve never had any chronic condition, std, mental illness, or substance dependence whether legal or illegal (unless it’s caffeine). No diabetes, no heart problems, no stroke, no colostomy bag–well, guess that might be difficult to hide.
My concern is because I work in insurance (work comp claims, specifically), I FREQUENTLY see employers denoting a claim as questionable because the employee has mentioned a pre-existing back condition, for example. There is absolutely no good that can come from your employer knowing that much about your health.
[snip, and a nitpick]
If you’re applying for a position with the US government (one that requires a clearance of some sort), all information is considered essentially “under oath.” I was once accused of failing to disclose a pre-existing condition that would interfere with my ability to use firearms (or so they thought). I pointed out that I had given them blanket access to any and all medical records, and that the trivial “condition” was previously diagnosed and considered inconsequential. All admissions/failure-to-disclose conditions are subject to charges of perjury. I ended up having to shill out about $1k to have a specialist say that my “medical condition” affects 80% of the US (including the specialist herself).
Long story short, dismissal of my application was reversed… but by then I’d gotten fed up and gone to the private sector.