HR Q&A – A Manager Has Asked to See the Medical Documentation Supporting Their Employee’s Request for an Accommodation. Can We Share That With Them?

No, medical documentation should stay with HR and not be shared with the manager.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to keep employee medical information confidential and accessible only to those who need it to do their jobs. The employee’s manager doesn’t need to know (and shouldn’t be asking about) why the accommodation was requested or approved or be told any details about the employee’s medical condition. They simply need to know whether the accommodation was approved and what the accommodation entails.

You can certainly work with the manager on determining whether the requested accommodation would pose an undue hardship, but that conversation should focus on the details of the accommodation (e.g., no lifting more than 15 pounds for one month) and not get into the employee’s medical information.

This blog does not constitute formal HR or legal advice and does not address state or local laws. Our HR Resource Center by Mineral offers further guidelines for this and many other topics. For a small additional fee you can also speak to a live HR Specialist. Contact your friendly APlus Payroll CSS for further information (including login details) or login here. Want to know how we can help your Payroll or Time & Labor process? Please contact us here. Consultation is friendly and free!