Working with a Chronic Health Condition: Is Choosing Not to Disclose the Same as Hiding Information?

Hiding personal information from others can come at a negative psychological cost. Yet studies on workplace disclosure of a chronic or episodic disability have not differentiated between decisions not to disclose information vs actively hiding information. We examined differences in decisions around nondisclosure and active hiding of health information, and factors associated with these decisions, including workplace support and job impacts.

An online, cross-sectional survey asked workers with physical and mental health/cognitive conditions creating job limitations (disability) about disclosing and hiding health information from a supervisor. Relationships between disclosure/nondisclosure and hiding/not hiding and their associations with demographic and work context factors, perceptions of disclosure decisions, workplace support, and job outcomes were examined in multinomial regression analyses.

Participants were 695 workers (51% men) with physical (40%), mental health/cognitive (25%), or both types of conditions (35%). Participants hiding health information (disclosure-hiding 20.9%; no disclosure-hiding 24.0%) were more likely to have mental health/cognitive conditions, avoidance goals, negative workplace perceptions, and report challenges in decision making than those not hiding information (disclosure-no hiding 37.5%; no disclosure-no hiding 17.6%). Those who had disclosed reported more workplace support, but those in the disclosure-hiding group reported more absenteeism, worse productivity, and more job disruptions.

The findings underscore the complexity of working with a disability and that many workers report hiding information from their supervisor. Understanding reasons for nondisclosure and hiding, and its implications, has the potential to improve workplace support provision for workers with disabilities and improve work inclusivity and sustainability.