BALANCING EMPLOYEE PRIVACY AND SAFETY DURING THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK
Questions to Address When Implementing COVID-19 Privacy Policies
The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the health and safety of employees and clients raise a number of questions in respect of the collection, use and retention of personal information. Employers face the difficult task of balancing an individual’s right to privacy with the employer’s obligation to maintain a safe workplace.
Under normal circumstances, the ability of employers to require employees to undergo health testing, disclose health information, and share that information is extremely limited and would generally give rise to a breach of privacy regulation. However, during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers may be able to avail themselves of certain privacy regulation provisions to keep employees and individuals that interact with their organizations safe and informed.
The intent of our paper is to help firms develop COVID-19 policies to guide their collection, use, sharing and retention of employee health information. It represents suggestions for best practices and should not be construed as legal advice.
If you have any questions, please contact Susan Copland.