Sick Leave Pools/HIPAA

jds

We are self-insured. We have a sick leave bank whereby employees deposit a certain number of their sick days into a pool for use by an employee who has used up all of his sick days, but is still in need of time off. In order to access the pool, the employee must submit a request to a committee made up of management and employees, who review the request (which includes medical information concerning the need for the sick leave) and then determine whether or not to grant access to the pool. I am concerned about possible HIPAA implications. I am hopeful someone has a quick answer. Thanks.

skyrocket

Employment records are not subject to HIPAA. HIPAA applies only to records maintained for and by your HEALTH PLAN.

LindaS

The other side of this is that the employee is providing the information and are authorizing other individuals to access that information. HIPAA would not be a factor in this case.