When one gets a deferred judgment on a misdemeanor. Would they still need to disclose they plead guilty on a job application?

A deferred judgment is not a conviction.  By federal law, only convictions, not arrests without an adjudication (such as sentencing) can be utilized in employment situations.  A deferred judgment is not an adjudication of guilt.  Thus, technically it does not need to be disclosed, and the employer would not be able to discover the deferred judgment as it is kept separately from the normal convictions and is not available to employers. However, that being said, an employer could discover the arrest, and could refuse to hire you, and you would not normally know the reasons why. If the employer stated that they did not hire you because of the arrest or deferred judgment, you would have a case violating federal law.  However, usually employers are smarter than to tell you why they refused to hire you.  Thus, I advocate being honest with future employers and tell them that you received a deferred judgment and the case was (or will be) dismissed after the period of your probation. I would not normally recommend putting it in writing, but just explain it to the future employer.  That way, you are being more honest than you need be.  However, you are entitled to not inform the employer since it is not a conviction.  The choice is yours.