Employee Files - What goes into the medical file?
mzihc
27 Posts
Hello,
In California, less than 50 employees. Non-HR "HR" person.
The owner has finally decided to review our human resources situation and is bringing in a consultant to whip us into shape. (good thing.) The owner has spoken to the consultant so has an idea of where he wants to focus and where to begin, but I only have an idea of the what's been discussed from extrapolating from his comments.
One of the items I was asked to do in advance of meeting the consultant (without further clarification) was to separate our employee files and remove anything medical into a different file. I had generally knew that our files were being kept incorrectly but without specifically knowing what goes where......
So can anybody clarify what qualifies as medical? I've read through the information on BLR as to records and what to retain etc, but when it comes to this specific item I don't see much detail. I understand that if its related to an employee's medical it should be seperated out, but what about things like their health plan benefit application (I mean that has PHI in it, right, even if its name, address, SS instead of details on a medical condition)? Or am I not supposed to retain that. The obvious would be medical leave paperwork and anything from a doctor with specifics etc, but can anybody give help out with what you keep in that file? Or a list of what probably should be there? Basically, as of now, our files have any random document related to that particular employee's employment.
Comments
Here is a NON-EXHAUSTIVE list to give you an idea:
If it indicates the person has seen a doctor (e.g., a doctor's note, even if it says nothing more than "was seen in our office" or "is under my care").
If it indicates the person was sick.
If it is related to a drug test (the note to go get one, the result, the receipt for having gone to get it done, etc.)
If it indicates the person takes medication (whether the medication is specified or not).
If it indicates the person has an injury of any kind.
If it is a document that has health questions on it like some health insurance applications.
God only knows the status of the question "do you smoke" in California, whether tobacco or marijuana.
Anything that pertains to injury, illness, medical consultation or treatment, drugs, mental health, goes into a separate file, preferably under separate lock and key: nobody outside of HR (if you have a safety officer, that person should be within HR) really needs to be pawing around in there.