I’m concerned about staff other than my supervisor having access to my leave.  We all know when people are in the office, but isn’t it my personal business whether I let my co-workers know if I’m out for a medical condition(s)? Thanks.

Posted 11-10-2015

Rita Risser replies:

Medical information is protected by a variety of state and federal laws, including HIPAA. It is supposed to be kept confidential. If the time sheets simply show that you are using sick time, that information probably is not protected. But if it shows the reason for sick time (e.g. chemotherapy) that could well be a violation of law. An employer should not be keeping track of that sort of information in time sheets, whether or not they are on shared folders. That sort of information should be with Human Resources in a confidential medical file.

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