RULE: You can ask employees for medical information you need to carry out a legitimate employment function as long as you don’t ask for more than the info necessary to carry out the function.
APPLICATION TO A ONE-DAY/WEEK ABSENCE: You can ask for a doctors note verifying the employee’s need to take a medical absence.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY “AMBIGUOUS”? A note need only say something like “X is sick and needs to take a day/week off.”So if you’re looking for more information, like a diagnosis, i.e., why the employee is sick, treatment information or any other details about the medical case, you’re out of luck.
But if by “ambiguous” you mean the note doesn’t even verify that the employee is sick, you CAN ask the employee for clarifying information and discipline him/her for refusing to provide it. Remember, just verification of illness, no case details.
LONGER ABSENCES & RETURN TO WORK: You have more leeway to verify need for longer absences. And when employees are returning to work from long absences, the zone of privacy shrinks even more to the extent medical information about the employee’s capabilities is necessary to determine when and to what position he/she can return and with what accommodations.
Hope that helps and email me directly if you want to continue the conversation off line. glennd@bongarde.com
