Question:
I work for a large company and my boss is interogating me. I do not feel like
telling her what sx I am going to have so I have keep saying abdominal surgery. I was wondering is it against the law if and when I fill out my disability papers with HR and they see the surgery that I am having, can they tell her? Is there a law that states that they are not allowed to discuss my personal info with my boss? — Pilar E. (posted on May 13, 2002)
May 13, 2002
Pilar - You do NOT have to divulge the type of surgery you are having, and
the HR department knows that! I have gone through (and am STILL going
through) that with my boss, who asked me repeatedly what I was having done,
even to the extent of her asking co-workers I'm friendly with what I had
done. I discussed it with our HR rep and she told me that under no
circumstances is my manager supposed to ask what type of surgery I am
having. I could have made a formal complaint against her, but decided to
let it go. I would suggest going to your HR rep before you fill out your
disability paperwork and ask them specifically what their policy is, and
what the privacy laws are in regards to your disability paperwork and your
surgery. Good luck! Lisa
— sssuzie1
May 13, 2002
Pilar, My thoughts on this are; you don't have to tell your boss, nor is HR
allowed to disclose any type of info. However when you come back to work
you will have already lost about 30 or so lbs. You will be losing on a
daily basis, they are going to know anyway. Just a thought.. Good Luck to
you!
— Kristina P.
May 13, 2002
Hi there!! You are not required to tell you boss a thing. And your Human
Resources department may not release any of your medical information to
your supervisor and/or manager. There is this thing called HIPAA which
involves patient privacy and security (of protected health information).
Effective April of 2003, the HIPAA regulations will go into affect but
since you work for a large company, I have no doubt that your HR department
is well aware of these regulations NOW. If they do not comply with the
regulations, they are setting themselves up for fines and possible criminal
prosecution. They now have to separate your medical information from your
personnel file. They must maintain two separate files and unless you sign
an consent form to provide others in your company with your medical
information, your HR department is prohibited from divulging ANYTHING. I
would speak with your HR representative and explain to them that your PHI
(protected health information) is not to be given out to anyone without
your consent. The regs are very clear when it comes to releasing
information without the patient's consent. If you would like more
information, please feel free to contact me! Good luck with your
surgery!!! Hugs, Kathie (in Hawaii).......
— KathieInHawaii
May 13, 2002
Hi Pilar. Like you, I didn't think it was my boss or coworkers business
what surgery I was having done. Personally, I chose to use humor. When my
boss asked me for about the 10th time what kind of surgery I was having, I
looked her in the eye and told her I was having a sex change operation.
She shut up and hasn't asked me a question since. Kristina pointed out
that you will be lighter when you return to work and will continue to lose
weight after you return. This was also my situation but when folks ask me
what I'm doing to lose weight, I tell them I've made a radical change in my
lifestyle and eating habits. It's not a lie and it usually satisfies the
busy body's curiosity. Best of Luck!
— Pam S.
May 13, 2002
You shouldn't have to tell anyone you don't want to tell. As far as
"being lighter" when you return to work and losing steadily
after, a few thoughts on that. I've now lost about 75 lbs total (25 pre op
and 50 post op), and nobody has said word one to me about my losing weight.
This is unfortunate but true: most of us are so large that even what seems
like a major loss (like 75 lbs for instance!) isn't really noticeable to
others who see us on a daily basis. I figured that I'd have to lose 100
lbs before anyone would say anything, and I wonder if it will actually be
more than that. I'm still waiting for that first person who doesn't know I
had surgery to notice my weight loss.
— GGinMA
May 13, 2002
Hey guys I could not help but post to this question. Being a employer may
not be the reason that she is inquiring. What ever happened to concern.
When you are not wanting to disclose what kind of surgery, all kind of
things can pop into someones head. The first thing I would think would be
cancer. Dont be shy about this surgery. Educate people, they may have a
family member or spouse that could use the information you have to offer.
My daughter had the surgery 3 weeks ago, and now after she went through it,
I now have a cousin who is now after years of being heavy having the
surgery in a few weeks.
— edy Z.
May 13, 2002
Edy, you must work for a great company. If I told my boss I didn't want to
discuss it and he/she pressed, I would not think of it as concern. Concern
would be "I hope everything is okay with you. My door is always open
if you want to talk to somebody." Pressing when you've already said
you didn't want to discuss it is not professional and does not adhere to
legal business standards. Just because a manager (or HR person or anybody
else) is not supposed to hold something against you doesn't mean they
won't. I would be suspicious. Then again, I have been the victim of
pregnancy discrimination and had to choose between the health of my child
and my job. (Guess what I chose.) Pilar, you don't have to tell them and HR
is not allowed to tell anyone outside HR any information about your
disability claim other than your work status. The disability papers should
go to an outside insurance company. HR may be able to guess some of what is
going on from the type of dr you see (if it says bariatric surgery all over
the forms you have to send them, for example) but they can't ask you about
it or pass that info on. All they have to know is that the insurance
approved your disability and that your dr has or has not released you to
work and any kind of restrictions you may have when returning to work (e.g.
not able to lift more than 10 pounds for 6 weeks). Good luck!
— ctyst
May 13, 2002
I have to agree with Cheri. Concern is asking once. If you keep asking
someone when they have already made it clear they don't want to talk about
it is not concern. I'm not even sure what to call it, but I KNOW Miss
Manners would not approve. Seriously, you do not have to tell anyone
anything as long as the required paperwork has been sent to your HR
department and they are not allowed to say anything about your condition to
anyone.
— garw
May 13, 2002
You don't have to tell your boss a thing! NOR does HR even have to know
what type of surgery you are having. It's against the law for them to even
ASK! All my HR dept needed was a note from the Dr. stating that surgery was
"Medically necessay". My note didn't even say what type it was.
Just tell your Dr. that you don't want it to say what it is. I also had
short-term Disability and I was never asked about what type. Just needed to
know how long I needed off.
— Kris T.
May 13, 2002
The law is totally on your side. You could just say you were having a
"medical procedure" and not give any more details than that ...
and if someone in your HR department disclosed the exact surgery to your
boss, you could sue for A LOT of money! Actually, I don't think the
insurance company even talks to your HR department, because it would be
against the law for them to disclose your personal medical information to
your employer ... so you can be fairly certain no one at your place of work
need know. I didn't tell a soul at my work, and no one was ever the wiser,
even friends in my HR department!!! Everyone thought I was losing weight
"the hard way"!!! Hee-hee-hee. I told my work I was getting my
gall bladder out (which wasn't a lie).
— Terissa R.
May 13, 2002
It is NOT your bosses business what type of surgery your having and it IS
against the law to ask/find out. However, if you work for a large company
(like mine), we self insured our short term disability. This means that I
had to fill out paperwork as does the doctor and they must tell why you are
off. This paperwork then goes to the HR department for determination of
your short term disability benefits. Technically, HR isn't supposed to
tell ANYONE why your off. However, even in large companies it gets out. I
didn't tell me boss either. I also said I was having abdominal surgery.
While I was home on disability, my boss called to see how I was doing
(yeah, right)and came right out and asked me if I had a gastric bypass. I
was put completely on the spot and didn't want to lie so I said yes.
Looking back on it I should have said, it's none of your business AND it's
against the law for you to ask. However, I like my job and the money it
provides.
— Patty H.
May 14, 2002
Well I told my boss, and she was very supportive of it. In fact I told
several people where I work about my WLS and I was suprised at how positive
of responses I had from most people. Most told me about some relative that
had WLS and they lost tons of weight, feel better and are much healthier. I
never had one iota of negative feedback from anyone, and I work in a fairly
large office (over 100) and anybody that asked about it then, or now that I
am 10 weeks post-op and down nearly 70 lbs.
— Dell H.
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