3 ms·

HIPAA (not HIPPA) is only relevant in terms of your health care provider(s) disclosing information. A company is completely free to demand proof of vaccination

HIPAA (not HIPPA) is only relevant in terms of your health care provider(s) disclosing information. A company is completely free to demand proof of vaccination records xor refuse to employ you (and as long as they're demanding it from you and not your health care provider [without your permission], there is no precedent being set here and HIPAA doesn't even enter the picture). As a general rule of thumb (barring some edge case exceptions), it is impossible for anyone but a health care provider to violate HIPAA. For examples, reporters reporting on someone's health conditions, sharing health information that was intended to be kept secret, or demanding proof of vaccination are not violating HIPAA. Plenty of industries demand vaccination (healthcare, childcare, etc.) as a prerequisite for employment; this is not a new model being implemented.

endisneigh 5y ago
interesting - I thought either HIPAA (thanks for the correction), FMLA or ADA protected employees from being asked about medical information that could result in they being discriminated against in regards to employment things.
- majormajor 5y ago
  Yeah, it's not HIPAA, but employers are prevented from discriminating based on disability and required to provide accommodation for disability. I'm not confident anyone could successfully win a lawsuit claiming refusing a vaccine is a disability worth protecting there.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > I thought either HIPAA (thanks for the correction), FMLA or ADA protected employees from being asked about medical information that could result in they being discriminated against in regards to employment things. ADA does for some things, but not all things. Vaccination status is apparently not among them, though many of the things that would be involved in a medical reason not to vaccinate are.
  - endisneigh 5y ago
    > ADA does for some things, but not all things. Vaccination status is apparently not among them, though many of the things that would be involved in a medical reason not to vaccinate are. Right - this is my point that I poorly presented. If you say you cannot be vaccinated for medical issues, obviously they must be presented proof otherwise any anti-vaxxer would say that. However if said proof would be constitute information under ADA then you wouldn't have to share it no? However since there's no way to know if that's actually true without knowing it seems we're in a dilemma.
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      > However if said proof would be constitute information under ADA then you wouldn't have to share it no? Most workplace privacy/anti-discrimination rules have exceptions for sufficient safety or other necessity, very few (despite popular general portrayals) are completely unconditional bars; not sure exactly how this applies to ADA here.
- shaftway 5y ago
  There are two easy ways around this. The first is a note from your doctor. My kids' school requires vaccination unless you bring in a note from your doctor claiming that you have an underlying condition preventing you from being vaccinated. It doesn't have to say what the condition is. Of course there are some doctors that will write up these notes from anyone, and some parents who will seek those out. But the work involved in finding one cuts down on the number of people who will do it. The second is that the vaccination requirement is only for people who work in the office. You don't need to be vaccinated to work remotely, so allow people who don't want to disclose information to work remotely. Again, this can be gamed by people who don't want to return. But I think that over time the remote crowd will see fewer interesting projects which means fewer opportunities for promotion, making that option less desirable.

endisneigh 5y ago

interesting - I thought either HIPAA (thanks for the correction), FMLA or ADA protected employees from being asked about medical information that could result in they being discriminated against in regards to employment things.

majormajor 5y ago
Yeah, it's not HIPAA, but employers are prevented from discriminating based on disability and required to provide accommodation for disability. I'm not confident anyone could successfully win a lawsuit claiming refusing a vaccine is a disability worth protecting there.
dragonwriter 5y ago
> I thought either HIPAA (thanks for the correction), FMLA or ADA protected employees from being asked about medical information that could result in they being discriminated against in regards to employment things. ADA does for some things, but not all things. Vaccination status is apparently not among them, though many of the things that would be involved in a medical reason not to vaccinate are.
- endisneigh 5y ago
  > ADA does for some things, but not all things. Vaccination status is apparently not among them, though many of the things that would be involved in a medical reason not to vaccinate are. Right - this is my point that I poorly presented. If you say you cannot be vaccinated for medical issues, obviously they must be presented proof otherwise any anti-vaxxer would say that. However if said proof would be constitute information under ADA then you wouldn't have to share it no? However since there's no way to know if that's actually true without knowing it seems we're in a dilemma.
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    > However if said proof would be constitute information under ADA then you wouldn't have to share it no? Most workplace privacy/anti-discrimination rules have exceptions for sufficient safety or other necessity, very few (despite popular general portrayals) are completely unconditional bars; not sure exactly how this applies to ADA here.
shaftway 5y ago
There are two easy ways around this. The first is a note from your doctor. My kids' school requires vaccination unless you bring in a note from your doctor claiming that you have an underlying condition preventing you from being vaccinated. It doesn't have to say what the condition is. Of course there are some doctors that will write up these notes from anyone, and some parents who will seek those out. But the work involved in finding one cuts down on the number of people who will do it. The second is that the vaccination requirement is only for people who work in the office. You don't need to be vaccinated to work remotely, so allow people who don't want to disclose information to work remotely. Again, this can be gamed by people who don't want to return. But I think that over time the remote crowd will see fewer interesting projects which means fewer opportunities for promotion, making that option less desirable.