Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) & Privacy Issues Questions Questions

As an overall matter, employers should be guided in their relationship with their employees not only by federal employment law, but by their own employee handbooks, manuals, and contracts (including bargaining agreements), and by any applicable state or local laws.

Topics on this page:

• Privacy Issues
• Accommodation
• Essential Workers

Find answers to frequently asked questions about equal employment opportunity and privacy issues by following the links below.

Privacy Issues 

• May employers ask employees if they have children or other family members for whom they may need to take care of in the event of a pandemic (for example, if schools were closed)? May they be asked if they have someone else who can take care of these family members? May this information be shared with supervisors and managers?

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• May employers ask employees if they may have a higher risk of infection, for example, a compromised immune system?

• Before a pandemic, for the purpose of estimating pandemic absenteeism levels, may employers obtain medical information about employees’ general health status to identify those employees who may be at a greater risk of contracting pandemic influenza?

• Before a pandemic, may employers survey employees to identify who may need to stay home, telework, or work an alternate schedule to care for children because they are dismissed from school or child care, consistent with the Community Mitigation Guidance from HHS/CDC?

• May an employer access employees’ medical information already in its possession for the purpose of pre-pandemic planning?

• May an employer ask for employees’ home phone numbers or phone numbers where they will be staying if they are caring for family members? May the employer ask for home e-mail addresses? Are there privacy rules for this information or may this information be shared with other employees?

• As a manager or supervisor, may I tell an employee’s direct supervisor at my company or organization if I know for a fact that the employee has pandemic influenza?

• During a pandemic, may an employer track whether or not employees and their family members or associates have contracted pandemic influenza? If so, and as part of that tracking, may the employer require them to disclose whether they have, or have been exposed to, pandemic influenza?

• When communicating with employees before, during, or after a pandemic, are there restrictions on the type of information that can be shared?

Accommodation 

• During an influenza pandemic, do employers have to provide new accommodations for a person with a disability (e.g., special work hours) due to lack of public transportation or other similar circumstances? What are the organization’s obligations if it can no longer provide an accommodation (e.g., the sign language interpreter is home sick and no others are available)?

Essential Workers 

• May employers treat essential/critical employees different than other employees such as providing transportation to and from work or giving them antivirals when there is a limited supply?

Related Workplace Categories of Questions

• Human Resource Policies and Pandemic Planning Workplace Questions
• Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) & Privacy Issues Questions
• Workplace Benefits Questions (including health and pension plans)
• Workplace Safety and Health Issues
• Unemployment Issues and Financial Assistance Questions
• Private Sector Workplace Questions