Medical Records Separately Filed

Don D

Do you think it would be absolutely essential to scour each and every active personnel file (as well as rehires) to be certain that no medical information of any sort is hiding back somewhere behind cobwebs in the file? This inquiry applies to information which was placed in files years prior to the ADA or recent EEOC opinions on what should or should not be in a file. What comes to mind is the old, old applications which may be in some files which, as we all know, that elicited all sorts of information. Things like 'group or civic affiliations',and 'marital status' and (remember this one?)'Do you have child care arrangements?" In extreme cases of old documents in the files of 'long time' employees, we may need to strip out quite a few old documents and this would require us to have the employees complete updated documents.

lrenoll

When I first started with my current employer they did not keep seperate records for medical and personnel. The first thing I did was to go through each and every file and seperated everything. I also got rid of the old stuff that should not have be in the file. (Race data etc.) I would recommend doing so yourself. It was a process indeed, but I am of the mind .. better safe then sorry.

In the long run my persistance in doing so has paid off. We are currently involved in an age discrimination suite. My files have been reviewed because of the on-going investigation. Trust me, I am counting my lucky stars! : )

felicia_matthews

I actually complete a file audit on each employee's file at every new company at which I go to work. This has been very time intensive, but I know that it is going to be me going through an EEOC or DFEH review, not the person whom I replaced. You never really know the competency level of the previous HR Administration. When I come across an application or other form that contains inapprpriate information (I.E. List emergency contact and relationship, etc). I have moved the original form to the conf file and made a copy of the same form w/the info whited-out and kept that in the HR file.

jules2001

In reading this previous response I am confused. A list of emergency contacts can not be in the main employee file? I do have a confidential file and medical file seperately for each employee, but the only things in the confidential file are things which would show age, race, sex and their background checks. Am I doing something wrong?

felicia_matthews

I am sorry that I was not specific enough before. Our company previously used an EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION that asked applicants for his/her emergency contact and the relationship to the applicant. They used this app as little as 3 yrs ago. The same app asked for the year the applicant graduated from high school.
Sorry for the confusion...

Don D

I am assuming Felicia means that an indication of an emergency contact's relationship to the employee might somehow identify marital status.(?) We file emergency contact information on the inside front cover of the main personnel file for immediate retrieval in cases of emergency. In some cases it can be helpful eventually to know if the person we are contacting is a neighbor, a friend, a roommate, an uncle or a spouse. That could determine the amount of information we are able to share with or request from the emergency contact.

PHMCCC

>Do you think it would be absolutely essential to scour each and every
>active personnel file (as well as rehires) to be certain that no
>medical information of any sort is hiding back somewhere behind
>cobwebs in the file? This inquiry applies to information which was
>placed in files years prior to the ADA or recent EEOC opinions on what
>should or should not be in a file. What comes to mind is the old, old
>applications which may be in some files which, as we all know, that
>elicited all sorts of information. Things like 'group or civic
>affiliations',and 'marital status' and (remember this one?)'Do you
>have child care arrangements?" In extreme cases of old documents in
>the files of 'long time' employees, we may need to strip out quite a
>few old documents and this would require us to have the employees
>complete updated documents.

PHMCCC

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-01-02 AT 11:28AM (CST)[/font][p]Can an employer put medical information on a employees
4-6 first preformance evalyation and file it in the employes their employment file?
and can an employer not talk to the employee about this evalautation, but put it into the employe's mail box.Can the employer use gosip she heard about the emplee and put it in the evaluation? Yet, say the employee was a good employed at the same time.