Legal Advice: Sick? Protect your privacy
In the eighth week of illness, the employer and employee must draw up an action plan. Note: the patient's privacy is at stake.
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Being sick comes with duties. One of those obligations is that the employer and the sick employee draw up a so-called action plan in consultation no later than the eighth week of the illness. Together with the employer, the sick employee examines how he can return to work (more). Because it is not always clear which data should be included in that action plan, there is a risk that medical data will be shared with the employer. Since the end of May, the General Data Protection Regulation also regulates the privacy of the sick employee.
Professional secret
An employer wants to get his sick employee back to work as soon as possible. For this he needs information from the patient. For example, to assess whether wages should continue to be paid. On the other hand, sick employees are entitled to privacy. It is therefore not legally permitted for employers to inquire about the nature and cause of the illness of their employees. This information is covered by medical confidentiality. Only the health and safety service or company doctor may process this medical data. In this respect, these so-called special professional data differ from general personal data that make it possible to identify an employee, such as a name or a social security number.
Accident
When an employee reports sick, the employer may ask for a telephone number and (nursing) address; the probable duration of the default; current appointments and activities; whether the employee falls under one of the safety net provisions of the Sickness Benefits Act whereby the UWV bears the direct wage costs (but not under which safety net provision); whether the illness results from an industrial accident and whether there is a traffic accident. If a liable third party is involved in an accident, the wage costs can be recovered from him.
Do not answer what-questions from your employer
If you call in sick, it is wise to properly shield your medical data from the general personal data by means of a separate folder or a (secure) digital folder. As an employee, it is also better not to answer what-questions from your employer, such as 'what is wrong with you?' and 'what is the cause of the outage?' and 'what are the restrictions?'. Do answer questions from your employer that are necessary in order to assess how to proceed with your work. Answer questions that make the transfer of your work easier. If your employer wants more information, it is best to refer him to the company doctor.
