We are a company with about 70 emoployess and I, part of the HR staff, am in the process of creating an official Leave of Absence form. In this form we are having the employee let us know what they are requesting their leave of absence with the normal what day will be your last day, day to return, etc. What I need to know is if it is in fact this information provided is protected under the HIPPA law. We are going to require that their direct manager sign off on the paperwork before it is submitted but with the explanation of WHY they are going on leave I am not sure that we can do this. Please adivse. Thank you

No its not. However, I don't believe you can require your employees to detail if the leave involves a specific medical condition. If this is FMLA covered leave, you may be able to.

HIPAA (not HIPPA) covers patients from having their information given out by their medical providers without their permission.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ScottGem

No its not.....

---

To clarify the answer, it's not HIPAA-protected information. The HIPAA privacy rules only protect patients from disclosure of their medical information by a medical care provider. They don't apply to ones employer.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AK lawyer

To clarify the answer, it's not HIPAA-protected information. The HIPAA privacy rules only protect patients from disclosure of their medical information by a medical care provider. They don't apply to ones employer.

---

With that said, it is then the employers responsibility to keep the health information, provided by the employee, private and protected information.