Work asking for very personal medical information.

Gilbert2

Jimavfc82 wrote: »

It is your problem though. An employer has a requirement to prove Right to Work as you identify. They are subject to sanctions including financial penalties and the revoking of a sponsorship license should they fail to adhere.

As you recognise, it is the employer who is required to do this, to check they are not employing people who have no right to work in the UK.

That is not the same as I, British born and bred, having a requirement to prove I am allowed to work in the UK.

Therefore, it isn't the problem for me as I have no requirement to prove it, under any legislation.

As such it can be requested easily as a reasonable management instruction to provide this, with appropriate disciplinary sanctions applied if not followed.

Then I would suggest any disciplinary action would be invalid.

Only a specific small number of authorities can demand I surrender my passport for inspection, such as customs officers and the police.

Some bod in personnel of a paper clip supply company has no authority to demand this.

I'd be interested to know what court has upheld this scenario and with what legislation.

On a side note i would not understand why such resistance to an instruction a company is only issuing to comply with their own requirements

People's (workers) privacy and rights.

There is no requirement for a British subject to carry an id card so we don't have them.

Obviously, one doesn't need to produce one on demand as one simply cannot, they don't exist.

Yet the lazy, blanket approach by employers, to simply cover themselves, to obey legislation that is meant to prevent people working in the UK who are not allowed to means that, essentially, the British worker is now subject to a national id scheme via the back door.

A British subject has the basic right to work, he need not prove he has that right.

No legislation demands this.

It is a scandal.

We even now have employers forbidding their employees from using the public highway!

Thankfully I don't participate in the depressing world of being an employee and, hopefully, I never have to again in my working life.

...................

j.e.j.

Thankfully I don't participate in the depressing world of being an employee and, hopefully, I never have to again in my working life.

Amen to that!

aliasojo

There's a definite divide on this thread between people who appear to be more 'toe the line' because it's official and those who question despite it being official.

Individuality will ensure a thread with a topic such as this will never reach a 'correct' conclusion so it's down to the person involved where their feelings lie.

I often wonder of those who say one thing on the internet,would actually do the same thing in real life. In their life.

Dunroamin

j.e.j. wrote: »

I would just put "PRIVATE" or something to that effect to any questions deemed to be too personal. I also take the view that mental health and gynaecological issues are none of the company's business!

Why should physical health be relevant to employment and not mental health?

How is it different to be asked to tick a box answering the question "Do you suffer from diabetes?" from ticking a similar box asking "Do you suffer from depression?"

Dunroamin

aliasojo wrote: »

There's a definite divide on this thread between people who appear to be more 'toe the line' because it's official and those who question despite it being official.

Individuality will ensure a thread with a topic such as this will never reach a 'correct' conclusion so it's down to the person involved where their feelings lie.

I often wonder of those who say one thing on the internet,would actually do the same thing in real life. In their life.

I don't think it's really that at all - I just think some people have different (to me rather odd) ideas about what is or isn't private.

I'd be as happy to tick boxes on a medical questionnaire asking me about fibroids, depression or diabetes - I don't think that any of these are more personal or intrusive than any other.

RichardD1970

As you recognise, it is the employer who is required to do this, to check they are not employing people who have no right to work in the UK.

That is not the same as I, British born and bred, having a requirement to prove I am allowed to work in the UK.

Therefore, it isn't the problem for me as I have no requirement to prove it, under any legislation.

Can I ask then Gilbert2, as an employer, when you have to recruit, how do you ensure that your potential workers are, either British citizens (and therefore need no proof of entitlement to work), or entitled to work in the UK?

squif33

I'm suprised no one on this thread has talked about the possibility of the employer asking these questions to enable them to put things in place to support employee's with specific health probs.

All questions are relevant, no matter how personal they may seem. For example, if employer is aware of gyneacological problems they can allow for extra bathroom breaks to attend to feminine hygiene, etc. If they are aware of a history of stress/ depression they can offer more supervisions to monitor stress levels.

They may also need to do risk assessments to enable safe working practices.

DevilsAdvocate1

squif33 wrote: »

I'm suprised no one on this thread has talked about the possibility of the employer asking these questions to enable them to put things in place to support employee's with specific health probs.

All questions are relevant, no matter how personal they may seem. For example, if employer is aware of gyneacological problems they can allow for extra bathroom breaks to attend to feminine hygiene, etc. If they are aware of a history of stress/ depression they can offer more supervisions to monitor stress levels.

They may also need to do risk assessments to enable safe working practices.

If you've worked somewhere for 8 years without having to have special things put in place then why would you suddenly need it now? If you have a problem which affects your work, then it is up to you to approach the boss and explain the issues. Its not up to the employer to ask very personal questions of everyone so they can decided what help people need. How patronising! Surely employees are all adults who can make their own decisions and ask for help if required.

aliasojo

DevilsAdvocate1 wrote: »

If you've worked somewhere for 8 years without having to have special things put in place then why would you suddenly need it now? If you have a problem which affects your work, then it is up to you to approach the boss and explain the issues. Its not up to the employer to ask very personal questions of everyone so they can decided what help people need. How patronising! Surely employees are all adults who can make their own decisions and ask for help if required.

Completely agree.

hcb42

I had a questionnaire given to me several months after I joined a new company. It was plagiarised from another organisation's HR manual as I understand it.

I merrily started ticking away, until the questions became more and more silly. When I got to "Have you ever had period pain?" I chucked it in the bin. Find me a woman in her forties who hasn't!!! No one ever followed it up.

No one in my organisation is even remotely qualified to handle this kind of organisation, therefore I don't feel I should have to provide it.

(If I had a medical problem which needed special adjustments, I would say, however I don't)