Question

We’ve been learning about protected grounds and accommodation. A common scenario in workplaces is when an employee has a medical issue, and the employer must accommodate that medical issue to the point of undue hardship. Sometimes, employers do not know what information they can legitimately request from employees, and what information the employer has no right to know. Read Obtaining and Responding to Medical Information in the Workplace.
Does your workplace have a policy that deals with what information can be requested? Would you recommend changes to the policy? Why or why not?

Answer 1

I currently work at an organization that has 20 employees. We are a startup organization and as a result, quite a close knit team. Needless to say, like many new organizations, the policies are not exactly formalized in our organization. As a result, we do not have any specific policy regarding the type of information that can be requested.

I would not recommend any change or creation of policy at this point. Since our team is small, we all know each other quite well and the environment is very friendly. This also means we voluntarily share various information with one another and a policy at this point is not necessary. However, if the team expands to a larger size, then there will be need for a policy.