Webinar managing highly sensitive employee information

Managing Sensi*ve Employee Informa*on

Bri6any Cullison, PHR

What to expect

•  Types of sensi*ve informa*on and when we commonly encounter it •  Confiden*ality and informa*on management best prac*ces

No*ce

•  I’m not an a6orney •  This is not legal advice, nor should the presenta*on be subs*tuted for experienced legal counsel.

POLL QUESTION

Medical and Health Informa*on

• Medical and health informa*on comes in many forms: •  Doctor’s notes with men*on of diagnosis •  Worker’s Compensa*on informa*on •  ADA reasonable accommoda*on requests or ADA covered informa*on

•  FMLA requests or documenta*on •  HIPAA covered informa*on*

ADA

•  Protects qualified individuals with disabili*es •  Has a physical or mental condi*on that substan*ally limits one or more major life ac*vi*es

•  Has a record of such an impairment •  Is regarded as having such an impairment

•  Requires employer to make reasonable accommoda*ons UNLESS doing so would impose undue hardship

FMLA

•  Leave permi6ed for: •  Birth, adop*on, foster care •  Employee’s own medical condi*on •  Immediate family member’s medical condi*on •  To handle qualifying exigencies •  Care for family member injured in ac*ve military •  service

FMLA

•  Leave permi6ed for •  Birth, adop*on, foster care •  Employee’s own medical condi*on •  Immediate family member’s medical condi*on •  Care for family member injured in ac*ve military service

HIPAA

•  Provides rights and protec*ons for pa*ents, along with par*cipants and beneficiaries in group health plans

•  Prohibits release of PHI without consent

•  Typically only applies to self-‐insured


•  You receive medical informa*on from an employee— •  Evaluate the informa*on •  Ask follow up ques*ons, if necessary •  Determine next steps •  Keep confiden*ality in mind throughout the process

•  Document


Confiden*ality best prac*ces with medical informa*on •  Medical informa*on in separate, confiden*al file •  Medical informa*on released on a need-‐to-‐know basis: •  Supervisors or managers that need to be aware of

accommoda*ons •  Safety personnel •  State Worker’s Comp office •  Insurance purposes

Inves*ga*ons

•  Inves*ga*ons can be for a variety of reasons, including: •  Discrimina*on or harassment claims •  Violence in the workplace reports •  Other policy or procedural viola*on

Inves*ga*on Best Prac*ces

•  Receiving the complaint/report •  Get wri6en, signed statements when possible •  Ask for witnesses or suppor*ng documents •  Clarify that retalia*on is not tolerated


•  Prepara*on •  Review informa*on sources •  Determine who needs to be interviewed •  Determine ques*ons •  Evaluate if interim ac*on is necessary


•  Conduc*ng the Inves*ga*on •  Keep thorough documenta*on •  Introduc*on •  Listen •  Talk to everyone with relevant informa*on


•  Inves*ga*on Wrap up •  Review the gathered informa*on •  Make determina*on and develop ac*on plan •  Communicate decision •  Prepare report


•  Inves*ga*ons should be: •  Prompt •  Complete •  Consistent •  Objec*ve •  Credible •  and handled with confiden*ality best prac*ces!

Employee Discipline/Termina*on

• Use discre*on when preparing for or conduc*ng disciplinary/termina*on mee*ngs •  Informa*on shared on a need-‐to-‐know basis • Mee*ngs held with privacy and security in mind

Employee Personal Informa*on

• HR and administra*ve offices encounter personal informa*on on employees in many different forms: •  I-‐9 Documenta*on •  New Hire paperwork containing personal data •  Direct Deposit •  Payroll files •  Includes customer informa*on as well •  ID thea preven*on is cri*cal!

POLL QUESTION

ID Thea Preven*on

•  Evaluate informa*on security and disposal •  How easy is it for someone to access your office during business hours?

•  How long documents stay at the printer before some one retrieves them?

•  Are documents that contain personal informa*on lea out una6ended?

•  Are computer screens being locked every *me someone leaves there desk?

ID Thea Preven*on

•  Are cabinets and drawers being locked? •  Are emails that contain personal informa*on being sent securely?

•  Are documents properly shredded when no longer needed?

•  Who in the office has access to sensi*ve informa*on?

ID Thea Preven*on

• Develop a protec*on plan •  Conduct a “walk through” •  Iden*fy poten*al risks •  Create easy to follow guidelines and procedures •  Educate your employees •  The importance of protec*ng personal informa*on.

•  Measure that the company will take to began this process.

•  How the process will be enforced.

ID Thea Preven*on

• Have a Breach Plan •  No*fy employee, law enforcement and possibly FTC

•  No*fy credit bureaus •  Conduct internal inves*ga*on •  Take steps to minimize or prevent addi*onal loss

Company Informa*on

•  Employees will oaen come to HR or Managers with ques*on of upcoming changes •  Be very careful of what you pass to employees

Employee Files

• Do you maintain a separate employee file for confiden*al informa*on? •  Medical records •  Pre-‐employment medical exam and/or drug screen results •  Applica*on for Employee Assistance Program •  Any Private Health Informa*on (PHI) as defined by HIPAA •  Any medical records with personally iden*fiable informa*on

(FMLA requests forms if the employee has disclosed the nature of his/her illness)

•  Return to work releases •  Workers compensa*on records including First Report of Injury

Employee Files

•  Inves*ga*on Records •  Discrimina*on or harassment complaints, including inves*ga*on

reports •  Legal case informa*on •  Complaints of conduct/policy viola*ons, including inves*ga*on notes

and/ or reports

•  Security Clearance and Inves*ga*on Records •  Background check results, including any arrest and/or convic*on

records and reports of criminal history •  Personal credit history

Employee File Best Prac*ces

•  All personnel data should be maintained securely • Have a locked file cabinet • Manager access only for normal file • Upper level manager/HR access for confiden*al file

General guidelines

•  Employee informa*on should always be treated as sensi*ve informa*on • Use the “need-‐to-‐know” rule when other guidelines are absent •  Keep company confiden*ality policies in mind •  The best approach is the ethical approach

Ques*ons?

•  Please send all ques*ons to:

[email protected]

Webinar managing highly sensitive employee information

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