Can My Employer Ask About My Health or Require a Medical Exam in New York?

An employer's right to ask about your health depends on the stage of employment. Under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), disability questions and medical exams are barred before a job offer, allowed after a conditional offer if given to all entering employees, and allowed during employment only when job-related and consistent with business necessity.⁠^[1][2][3] New York State and New York City add their own limits, and federal, State and City sources each restrict who may see the answers.⁠^{[4][5][2][8][7]}

The three stages at a glance

Stage	Federal (ADA)	New York State	New York City
Before a job offer	No medical exam and no questions about whether the applicant has a disability or its nature or severity; questions about ability to perform job-related functions are allowed⁠[1]	No application form or pre-employment inquiry expressing a limitation as to disability unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification; regulation bars inquiries about a disability or need for accommodation⁠[4]	Commission: asking whether an applicant has a disability may be unlawful; a pre-offer medical exam, inquiry or test generally violates the City law⁠[5]
After a conditional offer	Exam allowed if all entering employees are examined regardless of disability; results kept confidential⁠[2]	Genetic tests may not be solicited, required or administered as a condition of employment, with a narrow exception⁠[9]	Commission: permissible only if required by law or applied consistently to all prospective employees⁠[5]
During employment	Exam or disability inquiry only if shown to be job-related and consistent with business necessity⁠[3]	Once an accommodation is requested, the employee cooperates in providing information necessary to verify the disability or consider the accommodation⁠[8]	Commission: disability questions or exams in three circumstances only⁠[10]

The ADA covers employers with 15 or more employees, the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) covers all employers within the state, and the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) generally applies in employment to employers with four or more persons.⁠^[11][12][13]

Before a job offer

Federal. The ADA says a covered employer "shall not conduct a medical examination or make inquiries of a job applicant as to whether such applicant is an individual with a disability or as to the nature or severity of such disability."⁠^[1] What it may do is ask about the applicant's ability to perform job-related functions.⁠^[1] The EEOC regulation adds that an employer may ask an applicant to describe or demonstrate how, with or without reasonable accommodation, the applicant will be able to perform those functions.⁠^[14]

New York State. The NYSHRL bars an application form or pre-employment inquiry that expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification or discrimination as to disability or predisposing genetic characteristics, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification.⁠^[4] The Division of Human Rights' regulation puts it more simply: the employer "must not make pre-employment inquiries with regard to the existence of a disability or need for accommodation."⁠^[4]

New York City. The NYC Commission on Human Rights says it may be unlawful for an employer to ask an applicant whether he has a disability, but it is generally not unlawful to ask whether he can perform the essential requisites of the job with or without accommodation.⁠^[5] The Commission also says employers have to provide accommodations during interviews and pre-employment testing.⁠^[5]

Hiring-stage rules are covered in more depth in disability discrimination in hiring.

After a conditional job offer

Federal. After an offer and before work starts, the ADA lets an employer require a medical examination and condition the offer on the results, if all entering employees are examined regardless of disability.⁠^[2] The EEOC regulation says such an entrance exam does not itself have to be job-related and consistent with business necessity, but if criteria are used to screen out people with disabilities as a result of it, those criteria have to be job-related and consistent with business necessity.⁠^[15]

New York State. The NYSHRL makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to solicit, require or administer a genetic test, or to require information from which a predisposing genetic characteristic can be inferred, as a condition of employment or pre-employment application. A narrow exception allows a specified test shown to be directly related to the occupational environment.⁠^[9]

New York City. The Commission says that after a conditional offer, a medical exam, inquiry or test is permissible only if required by law or applied consistently to all prospective employees.⁠^[5]

During employment

Federal. The ADA says an employer may not require a medical examination of an employee, or ask whether an employee has a disability or about its nature or severity, "unless such examination or inquiry is shown to be job-related and consistent with business necessity."⁠^[3] Voluntary exams that are part of an employee health program are allowed.⁠^[3] The EEOC regulation says an employer may make inquiries into the ability of an employee to perform job-related functions.⁠^[15]

New York City. The Commission's December 2025 guidance says employers should not ask employees disability-related questions or ask them to undergo disability-related medical exams except in three circumstances:⁠^[10]

1. the employer has reason to believe the employee's ability to perform the essential requisites of the job is impaired by a medical condition;⁠^[10]
2. the employer has a reasonable basis to be concerned that the employee will pose a direct threat to the safety of the employee, coworkers or the public because of the medical condition;⁠^[10]
3. the employer is engaging in a cooperative dialogue about a reasonable accommodation.⁠^[10]

Safety-based inquiries. Under the EEOC's ADA regulation, a determination that a person poses a "direct threat" rests on an individualized assessment of the person's present ability to safely perform the essential functions of the job, based on reasonable medical judgment.⁠^[16] The State regulation likewise ties direct threat to an individualized assessment.⁠^[17]

Returning from leave. The Department of Labor's FMLA regulation says that if an employer requires a fitness-for-duty certification to return from FMLA leave, it has to comply with the ADA requirement that a fitness-for-duty physical be job-related and consistent with business necessity.⁠^[15] For New York City, the Commission says return-to-work inquiries or exams "must be limited in scope to what is needed to make an assessment of the employee's ability to work."⁠^[10]

Documentation when you ask for an accommodation

Asking for an accommodation opens a limited exchange of medical information. The limits differ in wording by layer.

Layer	What the employer may ask for	Limits
Federal (EEOC guidance on the ADA)	Reasonable documentation about the disability and functional limitations, when the disability or need is not obvious⁠[6]	Only what is needed to establish an ADA disability and the need for accommodation; in most situations not complete medical records⁠[6]
New York State (statute and regulation)	Medical or other information necessary to verify the disability or to consider the accommodation; the employer has to clearly request the documentation it needs⁠[8]	The employee has a right to have the medical information kept confidential⁠[8]
New York City (Commission guidance)	Documentation sufficient to substantiate the disability, the functional limitation and how the accommodation addresses it, when the need is not readily apparent⁠[7]	No required diagnosis unless necessary; no unrelated documentation such as complete medical records; no required form of documentation⁠[7]

Refusing to provide anything has consequences under federal law. EEOC guidance says that if the disability or need is not obvious and the person refuses the reasonable documentation requested, the person is not entitled to the accommodation.⁠^[6] For New York City, the Commission says an employer that finds documentation insufficient should ask for more, not reject the request.⁠^[7]

See how to request a reasonable accommodation and the interactive process and cooperative dialogue.

Sick days and doctor's notes

Sick leave has its own rules. Under New York State's sick leave law, an employer may not require disclosure of confidential information about an employee's mental or physical illness, injury or health condition as a condition of providing sick leave.⁠^[18] In New York City, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection's notice of employee rights says an employer can require documentation when an employee uses four or more workdays in a row, and cannot require it for three or fewer consecutive days.⁠^[19] The leave programs are compared in FMLA, Paid Family Leave and sick leave.

Who can see the answers?

Federal. Under the ADA, information from a permitted medical exam or inquiry is collected on separate forms, kept in separate medical files and treated as a confidential medical record.⁠^[2] The statute and regulation allow three disclosures:⁠^[2][15]

• supervisors and managers may be told about necessary restrictions on the employee's work and necessary accommodations;⁠^[2]
• first aid and safety personnel may be told, when appropriate, if the disability might require emergency treatment;⁠^[2]
• government officials investigating compliance are given relevant information on request.⁠^[2]

EEOC guidance says these limited situations "do not include disclosure to coworkers," and that an employer may not tell other employees that someone is receiving a reasonable accommodation, because that usually reveals that the person has a disability.⁠^[20]

New York State. The State regulation says the employer has to maintain the confidentiality of individuals' medical information, and the statute gives the employee a right to have medical information provided for an accommodation kept confidential.⁠^[8]

New York City. The Commission says information or documentation shared in the accommodation process is to be kept confidential, and says medical information should be kept confidential and in separate medical files.⁠^[7][10]

These confidentiality rules cover medical information the employer collects. They are different from the broader question of what a human resources department may share about a complaint; see is HR confidential.

What people commonly get wrong

• "An employer can never ask about my health." The ADA permits inquiries that are job-related and consistent with business necessity, and questions about the ability to perform job-related functions.⁠^[3][15]
• "An employer can demand my diagnosis and full records." The federal, State and City sources each limit a request to what is needed for the disability and accommodation at issue.⁠^[6][8][7]
• "A drug test is a medical exam." Under the ADA a test for the illegal use of drugs is not considered a medical examination.⁠^[21] Cannabis and addiction are covered in addiction, alcoholism and medical cannabis at work.
• "My manager can explain my accommodation to the team." EEOC guidance says the ADA's confidentiality exceptions do not include coworkers.⁠^[20]

Related guides: mental health conditions at work, pregnancy accommodation and reasonable accommodation in New York.