Personnel File and Medical Record Confidentiality Florida

Take steps to protect the confidentiality of employee files and medical records. This article provides tips on how to keep these sensitive files and records private and keep prying eyes off of them.

Local Companies

Gerard Thomas Inc
(954) 485-9550
1620 West Oakland Park Blvd
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Personnel One
(954) 983-4000
3475 Sheridan Street
Hollywood, FL
Elk, Christu & Bakst, LLP
561-368-8800
4800 N. Federal Hwy, Ste. 200E
Boca Raton, FL
L. Diana Hileman
561-241-1600
Rutherford Mulhall, PA
Boca Raton, FL
Work Force One
(954) 967-1010 ext 242
7550 Davie Road Extention
Hollywood, FL
Law Office of Maria Sachs
276-8900
203 NE 1st Ave.
Delray Beach, FL
Weiner, Aronson & Mankoff, P.A.
265-2666
10 S.E. 1st Avenue
Delray Beach, FL
Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.
236-9713
PO Box 740761
Boynton Beach, FL
Erik Edward Joh, P.A.
276-1008
4600 N. Ocean Blvd., Ste. 206
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Genay Ann Leitman, Esq.
733-1717
700 E. Boynton Beach Blvd., Ste. 1106
Boynton Beach, FL

 

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Generally, you should treat personnel files as private records belonging to you and your individual employees. You don't want to allow just anyone in the company to rummage through the performance evaluations, salaries, and job applications of coworkers.

But there are employees who have a legitimate need to view the information in a personnel file. For example, a supervisor may need to review performance evaluations to decide whether to promote an employee, or the human resources manager may need to review an employee's salary information to decide what to pay a new hire in the same position. And, in most states, employees have the right to inspect their own personnel files.

Keeping Files Confidential

Treat personnel files like any other private company records. You can do this by keeping employee files in a locked cabinet. Make them available only to those people in your company who have a legitimate business need to access the files. For example, you might establish a policy that only the human resources manager, the individual employee's manager, and the employee have a right to see an employee's file. This will protect your employees' privacy and limit opportunities for inappropriate documents to find their way into the files.

Keeping Medical Records Separate

Special guidelines apply to medical information pertaining to your employees. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) imposes very strict rules for handling information obtained through post-offer medical examinations and inquiries. Employers who are covered by the ADA must keep these medical records confidential and separate from other personnel records. This information may be revealed only to safety and first aid workers, if necessary to treat the employee or provide for evactuation procedures; to the employee's supervisor, if the employee's disability requires restricted duties or a reasonable accommodation; to government officials as required by law; and to insurance companies that require a medical exam.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) also imposes privacy obligations on many employers who provide group health plans. (Employers who administer their own plans and have fewer than 50 participants don't have to comply with HIPAA's privacy rules, and employers that sponsor plans that receive only enrollment information have minimal obligations.) Under HIPAA, employers are required to protect the privacy of employees' personal health-related information by designating an in-house privacy official, adopting policies and procedures to keep this information private, and notifying employees of their privacy rights, among other things. For more information on HIPAA's privacy rules, go to the HIPAA website established by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, at www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa.

Some state laws also provide special protections for employee medical records. These laws may limit the way such records can be used or the people who can view them.

For help in establishing solid policies regarding personnel files, get Create Your Own Employee Handbook: A Legal & Practical Guide, by Lisa Guerin and Amy DelPo (Nolo).


Copyright 2008 Nolo
For more information visit Nolo Press

Featured Local Company

Gerard Thomas Inc

(954) 485-9550
1620 West Oakland Park Blvd
Fort Lauderdale, FL

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