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Working for a company requires a certain level of disclosure from employees to the Human Resources Department in order to guarantee that both employees and employers comply with the health protocols established in the country’s labor laws. For the most part, an employer can only gather medical information that you provide to them, such as when you are calling sick or submitting a medical certificate to Human Resources. They may keep the medical information they’ve gathered about you in a private file, but by law they are not allowed to publicly disclose it without having a legitimate business reason to do so.<\/p>\n
WHAT KIND OF MEDICAL INFORMATION CAN MY EMPLOYER HAVE ABOUT ME?<\/p>\n
Your employers may gather information about your health from different sources, and they will keep a medical fire separated from your personal fire. However the sources they can use to gather that information are restricted by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects your medical records maintained by hospitals and health plans from being disclosed to anybody except you and the medical staff that maintains them. However, the records that the company keeps that relate to your benefits – such as life insurance, disability, or workers compensation – are not covered by the act.<\/p>\n
WHAT MEDICAL INFORMATION DO I HAVE THE RIGHT TO KEEP PRIVATE?<\/p>\n
You don’t have the obligation to disclose your medical information with your employers unless you have a condition that could directly affect your job or those around you. If you are HIV positive of have Hepatitis C, you are not obliged to disclose your status to your employers unless the nature of your work involves you posing a risk to the health of others. Even so, it is up to you to decide whether you are going to disclose your condition to your employer. If you do so, the law gives you the right to get an accommodation or your disability so that you can perform your work with some changes that will limit the risk of damaging others. Under no circumstance employers are allowed to fire you due to a medical condition.<\/p>\n
WHAT ARE MY RIGHTS ABOUT MY MEDICAL PRIVACY IN THE WORKPLACE?<\/p>\n
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act protects your medical information from health plans from being disclosed to your employers. However it does not cover your health information on your employment records. The company is entitled to inquire with you about your medical information if there is a real concern that it will affect your work. For example your supervisor may ask you for a doctor’s note if you are soliciting a sick leave, and the company may require you to take certain medical examinations for them if they are part of a health program for employees.<\/p>\n
If you, or someone you know, are facing legal issues in the workplace United Employees Law Group has the answers. Call Today for your free and confidential case review. Please feel free to CONTACT US with any questions about this blog or your exact situation.<\/p>\n
Photo Credit: Shutterstock\/Stock-Asso<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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