managers right to ask ee about medical issues
cbailey
6 Posts
I have an employee who came to me regarding her sick leave. after having some health issues, that she would not like to disclose, she used all of her sick leave. which was time she had. her manager is continuely asking what was wrong with her, why was she out, etc.
This employee brought in notices from her dr stating she was in care of the dr and needed the time off. plus she used the time that she had.Is there any laws (in am in VA) that I can show the manager to stop prying?
i searched dol and hippa. i haven't found anything relevant. it seems that the "company" should have something regarding privacy in writing.
is there any way to protect this employee?
This employee brought in notices from her dr stating she was in care of the dr and needed the time off. plus she used the time that she had.Is there any laws (in am in VA) that I can show the manager to stop prying?
i searched dol and hippa. i haven't found anything relevant. it seems that the "company" should have something regarding privacy in writing.
is there any way to protect this employee?
Comments
The manager has no need to know why the employee is out sick unless it has something to do with the job and requires an accommodation. Your task is to determine whether or not your employee is covered under FMLA and may be entitled to intermittent leave. You should inform your employee that she may be entitled to the leave and provide her with the forms. Is there a problem of excessive absenteeism or is the manager just curious to know?
1) Tell managers they have no right to the personal medical information of employees, nor do they have a right to know what condition necessitated an absence.
and
2) Arm the employee by telling her to feel free to tell a supervisor "You don't have a right to my personal medical information. I have turned in a doctor's statement to the company."
a lot of the managers here have been here for decades and are "old school"
so being the new hr rep here i do not have much pull.
thank you very much for your help!!
Just as in interviews, we can simply not ask for medical information, even after they are employed.
If these guys are reasonable enough to deal with an example, try this: Suppose I insist that Mary tell me why she was absent three times in the past six weeks. She starts crying and isn't willing to. I tell her it's my right since she works for me and I have to approve her absences. I insist further and she breaks down and tells me she has been seeing a psychiatrist and a specialist to work through the mental and physical issues of HIV (or any number of ADA qualifiers) which has been recently diagnosed. I have just violated the Act by requiring her to reveal or causing her to reveal that information to me.
More to the point, for the supervisor; now she has a perfect opportunity to later accuse me of discrimination. A jury just might believe that the reason I did something regarding her conditions of employment was because I beat her up till she told me she was HIV, then disciplined her.
"One of the hardest things we do as HR Managers is train herds of old cows to enter the pasture from a gate different from the one they've used for 15 years." drd