Sick time/privacy issue

At my job, we are provided 1 sick day for every month we do not call in sick. A pretty good deal, until you need to use a sick day. Sick days are held against us if used. They are provided by the company, as a benefit, but if we use them, we receive disciplinary action. The first time a sick day is used, the person would receive 1 Point...a verbal warning. Any sick days used consecutively result in a single point. If the person returns to work then has to call in again, another point is given with a written warning. Non-consecutive third sick day is a third point and final written warning. Another call in after this can, and likely will, result in termination. This is also based on a 180 day, or 6 month, cycle. After 180 days, the first point drops off, and so on.

The company I work for has a policy that if a person calls off for 3 or more days, the person has to have a Doctor's release on a Company form called the "Condition for return to work."

This form has recently been amended. Near the top of the form, there is a place where they want the "Nature of illness/injury." Myself, among many others, felt this was a blatant violation of HIPAA, not to mention Doctor-Patient Confidentiality and Doctor-Patient Privilege.

Are we correct that this is a violation of our privacy and our D-P Confidentiality/Privilege?

Also, there is a section near the bottom of the first page of this form that is designed to give consent for the Doctor to provide information about the patient to the Company.

I, for one, would not fill out any of that information. Nature of illness or consent for the Doctor to release information about me. I don't even include my wife on the HIPAA form at my Doctor's office. I tell her why I go to the Doctor, and she has no reason tocall a Doctor about me...much like my place of employment.

I do undestand the ways around D-P Confidentiality/Privilege, but they don't apply.

Finally, as mentioned about with the consent portion of the form...Would filling out that section give the Company freedom to seek information unhindered, or would it create a conflict-of-interest for the Doctor if I don't include my work on my HIPAA form, but fill out that section on the Return to Work form?

I hope all this makes sense. If not, I will be happy to be more specific on any area.

I forgot to mention that I live and work in Texas, if that will assist at all in the answering of these questions.

Your best bet is to contact your local department of labour to find someone experienced in Texas employment law. Typically, most states don't require the nature of the illness to be disclosed unless taking extended time off work or a leave of absence and I believe the 3 days you mentioned is typical industry standard. However, penalizing (or "disciplining" as you put it) an employee for a single day's absence sounds suspiciously close to employer retaliation, in my opinion, and well worth a phone call to your local labour board. In reference to your last questions, you probably won't encounter any doctors who will divulge a patient's medical information without either express approval or a legal document. There's not only "patient-doctor confidentiality involved, but the very real possibility of a lawsuit. As gray as some aspects of HIPAA can be, there aren't many doctors willing to risk that.
Good luck.

Thank you for the response. If I need, at some time, to further investigate the issue, I know what to do. For now, I intend to go along as I have. If something comes up, and I need to have one of those forms to return to work, I'll leave blank the areas I don't agree with filling out. If they have a problem with that, then I find out the actual Texas legalities to the issue.

Again, thanks for the info.

You're welcome. Good luck to you.