Medical Info in Personnel Files

Ed C

We all know it's wise to keep drug screen reports and any medical out of an employee's personnel file which could be seen by other employees. How about the basic forms used for an employee to enroll in health, dental and life insurance plans?

marc

They should be seperate.

mushroomHR

I agree with marc--keep them separate.

Don D

I agree with Marc and 'Shroom; however, truth is, neither a drug screen result nor the plan enrollment forms are technically 'medical records'. I hope this doesn't turn into another HIPAA argument, since those documents are not subject to HIPAA regulation either.

mushroomHR

No argument here Don. You are absolutely correct about this information not falling under HIPAA regulations. Still wise to keep it separate. You never know when the government might change its mind...

Geno

Separate.

We err on the side of caution and “red file” (separate medical file) anything and everything that is even remotely medically related to the employee. That means that in practice, in addition to all of the obvious documents such as drug screens, WC and FMLA documentation, it includes a host of other documents that contain even the slightest nexus or reference (oblique or otherwise) to an employee’s medical information.

GENO

DB

The enrollment forms here are strictly name, address, SSN, DOB, list of dependents, PPO or HMO and signature. Why would that need to be kept separate?

Don D

DB: The EEOC, for one, is well known and widely known for magnanimous stretches of the imagination through which they attempt to control the lives and actions of employers. If you were to file that form in your regular ee personnel file, you could bet your last dime that one of their investigators would opine that doing that opens up the very real possibility of supervisory staff knowing the names and ages of dependents and their making promotional and retention decisions based discriminatorily on marital status, age, proclivity for high insurance costs by single mothers working for the company and on and on and on.

Imagine: There's a Reduction in Force. I have a family of eight and am one of those affected. I claim that my age and family size and marital status were the basis. I file a charge.

Evswife

Absolutely! We have the "main" ee file with new hire paperwork (resume, application, sign offs, etc.) time off forms, and evaluations. We have the "yellow" file which contains all documentes with profile sheet, benefit enrollment forms, etc. If an employee has medical information, that is maintained in a seperate file cabinet in a "red" file. We place a red dot sticker on the ee "main" file to indicate there is a medical file for this employee. Works quite well.