Privacy Vs Assistance
Kathy in Alabama
38 Posts
In trying to teach supervisors about various HR law in both interviewing prospective and current employees, we have told them that they should not ask about health problems, offer medical advice, and in general the less they know about employee medical conditons, the better.
We have a very good employee who is outgoing, talks alot, and mentions (to all who will listen, especially when he is feeling bad) that he has diabetes, and knows he should go to the doctor more, etc. In the past, when he was really sick, he had been told that he should go to the doctor. This was not said as a business requirement, but more of a friendly, concerned suggestion with no followup or enforcement at all. After a training course on ADA, knowing we had made these comments, we talked to our lawyer and he said when this occurs with him or anyone else, don't say anything to be safe. Just leave it alone for him / them to handle with no comment.
Yesterday at work, he became dizzy and weak and needed to sit down. A supervisor was with him as well as another employee. The employee asked him if he needed crackers or something to eat, and the supervisor stopped and said you can't ask that. She asked a few minutes later if he needed a Coke or something to drink, and he said (somewhat forcefully I'm told) that she is not allowed to ask that.
I've got to explain to all the distinction between respecting privacy and offering assistance to an ill employee. It seems like it should be common sense, but common sense is not always legal! Thanks for any and all advice.
We have a very good employee who is outgoing, talks alot, and mentions (to all who will listen, especially when he is feeling bad) that he has diabetes, and knows he should go to the doctor more, etc. In the past, when he was really sick, he had been told that he should go to the doctor. This was not said as a business requirement, but more of a friendly, concerned suggestion with no followup or enforcement at all. After a training course on ADA, knowing we had made these comments, we talked to our lawyer and he said when this occurs with him or anyone else, don't say anything to be safe. Just leave it alone for him / them to handle with no comment.
Yesterday at work, he became dizzy and weak and needed to sit down. A supervisor was with him as well as another employee. The employee asked him if he needed crackers or something to eat, and the supervisor stopped and said you can't ask that. She asked a few minutes later if he needed a Coke or something to drink, and he said (somewhat forcefully I'm told) that she is not allowed to ask that.
I've got to explain to all the distinction between respecting privacy and offering assistance to an ill employee. It seems like it should be common sense, but common sense is not always legal! Thanks for any and all advice.
Comments
The situation you have described sounds more like first-aid than meddling/trafficking in an employee's protected health information. It would be tempting to ask the overzealous supervisor what he would do if one of his employees had stopped breathing or was bleeding to death.
Geno
A couple of points to make, first of all, you cannot ask about health conditions, but that does not mean you have to pretend you did not hear or remember when the EE volunteers information about his/her condition.
Second, a concerned person possessing the volunterred information is not precluded from offering assistance.
Does anyone know about the "Good Samaritan Laws?"
In the olden days, after people had tried to save people from drowning, some lawsuits ensued holding the would be savior liable. Good samaritan laws followed the protected one when make a bona fide effort. I don't know much more than that at this point, but perhaps this kind of spin can come into play here.
If we continue to use the lawyer's ultra-conservative approach, we'll have stricken employees trying to communicate that they need help using hand signals and charades!
That might help.