work medical questionaire

[k8bailey]

My 25 year old partner is a carpenter, employed by a small building firm for the last 6 years. He has just been asked to fill out a medical questionaire.

Does he have to fill this in? Do employers have the right to request personal info such as this, when any conditions/health problems he may have, pose no risk to others, and don't stop him from doing his job?

The information is not being requested in relation to a health insurance/pension scheme and will not be passed on to any doctors or occupational health teams.
He doesn't know why the employers are suddenly so interested in their employees health/medical conditions, but his worry is that this information may be used aginst him in some way and that it won't be kept confidential.

He is also not a union member, so can't ask them for advice, so any help would be graetfully recieved!

[Androcles]

You already asked this question five days ago and got a pile of answers. http://www.theanswerb...l/Question871497.html

There is no reason as ws suggested that he should not ask why they want the information and in any case any answers are protected by the Data Protection Act. Is there any reason for him to be worried?

[grasscarp]

With the current world where everyone is encouraged to make claims for everything e.g have you been injured at work and it wasnt your fault blah blah, I am not surprised if employers want to be sure they are doing the best they can for their employees. I am sure they want to be sure that the employee is not able to sue them and dont really blame them.

[brenda]

What was wrong with all the answers you had before?

[k8bailey]

there was nothing wrong with the answers I got before, but I never got a definitve yes he has to or no he doesn't have to - which is why I'm asking again!

This questionaire has nothing to do with providing extra safety equiptment for people with (for example) bad backs or hearing loss - they don't even provide the basics under normal circumstances.

"Is there any reason he should be worried?" as a child he suffered a disease which caused his lower back to become slightly deformed....the worry is that as soon as he gives his employers this piece of information, that they will be able to say that any back injuries are as a result of this rather than the work he was carrying out, regardless of whether this were true or not.

I just don't see what business it is of his employers? surely medical info is confidential and as long as it's not posing a risk to himself or anyone else, nobody but his doctor has a right to that information. If he had say epilepsy, HIV, diabetes or a very severe allergy I would be all for him disclosing such information, but when and how he broke bones as a child???

[R1Geezer]

He does not have to fill this in, he can resign and walk away. I imagine this sort of thing is covered in his contract. If he does not have a contract then he can still refuse but the employer may well take action. The outcome of which may well be dismissal however he may also have a case for some sort of tribunal. Without details of contract etc it's a grey area.

[k8bailey]

hmmm, his contract doesn't mention anything about medical conditions or information. I think he's gonna have bite the bullet and ask why they want to know....unfortunately his employers aren't very approachable.