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Medical Records and Terminated Personnel Files
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Medical Records and Terminated Personnel Files
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I just started a new job with a company that requires a health assessment for new employees. I was doing a quick audit of personnel files and found the health assessments in the files of termina
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Forums » Topic Forums » Legal Forum » Medical Records and Terminated Personnel Files
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Medical Records and Terminated Personnel Files
posted at 12/9/2011 11:35 AM EST
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 2
First: 12/9/2011 Last: 12/9/2011 |
I just started a new job with a company that requires a health assessment for new employees. I was doing a quick audit of personnel files and found the health assessments in the files of terminated employees. I objected, but then was told that they looked into it and discovered that you do not have to file medical records separately when the employee is terminated. I checked Title I of the ADA and it doesn't explicitly say you can do that, but then again, it doesn't say you can't either. Can anyone give me a definitive answer on this before I try to make the whole company change it's policy? |
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Re: Medical Records and Terminated Personnel Files
posted at 12/9/2011 12:25 PM EST
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 127
First: 9/21/2011 Last: 11/12/2012 |
here's a good article about medical records and how to store. ADA does have a confidentiality requirement and storage in a separate file for health assessments, but doesn't seem to address at termination. |
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Re: Medical Records and Terminated Personnel Files
posted at 12/9/2011 2:54 PM EST
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 2
First: 12/9/2011 Last: 12/9/2011 |
Part of my concern is that terminated employees don't seem to stay that way. The employees actually work directly for our clients as personal assistants to the disabled and we are the fiduciary intermediary. But we also handle all of the admin tasks for them. So when an assistant terminates, they often show up again working for someone else. I'm just really nervous that if we leave medical information in terminated files that it could be said that we influenced hiring decisions by our clients based on medical information. |
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Re: Medical Records and Terminated Personnel Files
posted at 12/9/2011 8:13 PM EST
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 148
First: 9/20/2011 Last: 12/12/2012 |
The two above posts are correct and to me the issue is quite simple. Just because the person is terminated does mean that their medical information is any less confidential. |
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Re: Medical Records and Terminated Personnel Files
posted at 12/12/2011 12:43 PM EST
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 127
First: 9/21/2011 Last: 11/12/2012 |
Agree with Howard especially with the extra information you provided. I would continue to have the separate. Especially if you have a lot of people/clients who have access to these files. For our company, all term files are locked in storage and I am the only one with access. Even the supervisors/managers no longer have access. So confidentiality is not a issue. But where there is a situation where these files WILL be used in the future, that is a strong reason to keep them separate. Because I agree that the confidentiality will follow the record and if you can't insure that after termination when combining files, then don't! |
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Re: Medical Records and Terminated Personnel Files
posted at 12/12/2011 1:44 PM EST
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 10
First: 9/22/2011 Last: 1/20/2012 |
Hi: The public policy issue behind requiring medical information to be stored separately is confidentiality/privacy. Echoing a prior post, the issue is still just as salient even though an individual is not a current employee. Dave Arnold, Ph.D., J.D. |
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Re: Medical Records and Terminated Personnel Files
posted at 12/21/2011 9:16 PM EST
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 1
First: 12/21/2011 Last: 12/21/2011 |
In Response to Re: Medical Records and Terminated Personnel Files: The two above posts are correct and to me the issue is quite simple. Just because the person is terminated does mean that their medical information is any less confidential. From my perspective, the company is, in effect, a fiduciary with regard to these very personal medical records. Posted by howard7 Howard the issue has to do with proper documentation of employee profile, so should medical record be filed seperately when an employee is terminated. I know for sure that employee medical record is keep away from other employee records. And at termination it should still be seperated. |
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Re: Medical Records and Terminated Personnel Files
posted at 12/22/2011 6:39 PM EST
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 148
First: 9/20/2011 Last: 12/12/2012 |
In Response to Re: Medical Records and Terminated Personnel Files: In Response to Re: Medical Records and Terminated Personnel Files : Howard the issue has to do with proper documentation of employee profile, so should medical record be filed seperately when an employee is terminated. I know for sure that employee medical record is keep away from other employee records. And at termination it should still be seperated. Posted by richglor Rich, not sure if you asked a question or answered your own question. But just to be clear, medical information should ALWAYS be separated as it has nothing to do with performing the job nor is it something that most HR, line operations managers or staff should have any access to. |
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