Employers entitled to certain information related to employee's expected return to work
Question: Can and should an employer request permission from an employee on medical leave to directly contact the employee’s doctor to get information on the employee’s return-to-work prognosis?
Answer: Not as a first or early step; employers should go there only if it is absolutely necessary. Even with consents, employees’ doctors are reluctant to directly engage with the employer. But the employee needs to satisfy the employer from time to time about her return-to-work prognosis; therefore an employer has the right to such information.
In some instances, the employee-provided information is not adequate and, consistent with the employer’s duty to accommodate and with the employee’s duty to participate in the accommodation process, the employer can and should as appropriate identify the inadequacies of the information provided and make a request for better information from the employee.
However, that can be time consuming and therefore a direct request from the employee’s doctor — supported by the employee’s signed consent — may result in the employer obtaining the information more quickly. Most often employers will engage their own physician — again supported by the employee’s consent — for that physician to deal with the employee’s doctor to obtain the requisite information. That seems to work.
