Can an employer ask to see test results?

Transform_IT said:
Lol... I don't sit on the forum all day!

Basically, he felt Ill, took a day off, felt worse so took a covid test. Notified our employer immediately so they could track any potentially colleagues he had been in contact with, allowing them to take control and monitor the situation. His result came back negative and took less than 48 hours. He notified work and they have allowed him back onsite, working... But have now requested a copy of his negative test result? Makes no sense to me...
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It's a Covid test result not an std rest result.

If your employer wants to see it hand it over.

Only a moron would state it's private medical info in the middle of a Covid pandemic.
 
arknor said:
why wouldn't you just show your employer your test result anyway?

is it such an unreasonable request?
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I can think of two reasons really.

1) They got COVID, the test was positive, but sick is unpaid and they can't afford to lose the money.

2) They pulled a sicky, and rather than say they got the squits like a normal shirker, they tried being clever and blamed COVID. They never took a test, since they knew they didn't have it, and didn't expect to be asked for proof of the test.
 
Some people are obviously taking the ****. We have one guy at work who is at the moment. Though he pulls sickies all the time. Usually when a pile of work comes in he will develop a migraine and bugger off home. Why they dont just fire him I dont know.
 
Nasher said:
Some people are obviously taking the ****. We have one guy at work who is at the moment. Though he pulls sickies all the time. Why they dont just fire him I dont know.
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Law requires employers to prove they have made efforts to accommodate illness of employees.

If you fire someone for sickness and they are unhappy about it then the employers process gets examined.

Employer might not like the employee but they might like the idea of proving they did everything perfectly in a tribunal even less.
 
Woden said:
I can think of two reasons really.

1) They got COVID, the test was positive, but sick is unpaid and they can't afford to lose the money.

2) They pulled a sicky, and rather than say they got the squits like a normal shirker, they tried being clever and blamed COVID. They never took a test, since they knew they didn't have it, and didn't expect to be asked for proof of the test.
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I would agree that there is a good chance it's one of the above reasons.

Any sane/sensible person would just show the employer the negative result and everyone moves on. If he's not willing to do that, then there must be another reason behind it.
 
Hotwired said:
Law requires employers to prove they have made efforts to accommodate illness of employees.

If you fire someone for sickness and they are unhappy about it then the employers process gets examined.

Employer might not like the employee but they might like the idea of proving they did everything perfectly in a tribunal even less.
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If someones sickness record shows they take off every other Monday and get signed off for months at a time, I dont think a court will side with them. They cant expect an employer to pay someone who is never there.
 
Nasher said:
If someones sickness record shows they take off every other Monday and get signed off for months at a time, I dont think a court will side with them. They cant expect an employer to pay someone who is never there.
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There's still a time and cost factor associated with having to deal with all that though. I've known of people basically being given a golden handshake to leave as it's quicker and cheaper than having to deal with pushing them out the door for sickness and the associated legal stuff that comes if they push back.
 
I don’t disagree but your example is extreme and in reality it takes years to build up a pattern of behaviour like that, particularly if they play to the policy the employer has in place. E.g. makes sure they take one less than the number of days set out in the policy before any action is taken.

Long term sickness is a completely different scenario and what’s reasonable is completely different to someone having lots of short absences.
 
adolf hamster said:
This, the only reason to hide it is if he was trying to pull a fast one for some free time off in which case he's kinda got it coming.
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Some people are just idiots.

I mean sporting events like UFC , boxing, football are actively testing their employees and they are in charge of the results and have full access to them.

Yet some random idiot thinks it's private medical information.

They don't want to know if he's got piles or crabs. They want to see his Covid test in the middle of a Covid pandemic.

If they wanted to see his medical history or other stuff then I'd agree that it's private medical info. A Covid test in the middle of this pandemic isn't really private medical info if anything he has a duty to tell everyone he comes into contact with.
 
I'm working with people that are getting COVID tested once every other day otherwise they're not allowed anywhere near their workplace (film industry), and you get muppets like this guy that won't disclose a negative test... Lol.

Someone should point out to him that you might not be able to get on a plane or enter a country in 2021 without proof of a negative test, or vaccination!
 
I'd not be happy handing over sensitive medical data to my employer. But in this instance, why not just give over a redacted copy? Or if it does truly just state your name and result, then I wouldn't see the issue.
 
Probably to confirm that he had indeed taken a test. The only details on the result are name,DOB , time of test and NHS number. Maybe he can redact the NHS number. The rest is not exactly sensitive information that the company doesn't already have access to.
 
For reference DHSC has been sending out letters this year to clinically extremely vulnerable persons advising to barricade at home etc and it also says the letter is good for evidence to show your employer.

The only thing on the paper your employer would not already know is your NHS number which I doubt anyone would care about if you blanked.

Your employer will already know your personal details and the reason you're claiming time off work. There's nothing else on it.
 
Environmental Health and PHE are chasing employers to ensire they're adherring to guilelines.

Your 'covidiot' mate should not have been allowed to return to the worksite before the 14 day isolation period without evidencing the negative test result.
 
rubberduck said:
Scumbag companies not trusting their employees! I can't stand it, no need for him to supply this info.
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The problem is you get so many bad eggs you just end up treating everyone the same. It is not rocket science when an employer asks for a simple thing like a negative test result and if the employee digs his heels in it is obvious something is up. I get the same when people ask to finish early for a doctor's appointment. When I ask to see the appointment text/card you end up with a lot of red faces when in reality they are just using it as an excuse to get out early.

Like said earlier if he wouldn't provide the result and returned to work earlier than the period needed I would just turn him around and send him back home.
 
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