Employee health programs offered by
employers must comply with laws enforced by the EEOC, including
Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which
restricts the medical information employers may obtain from
applicants and employees and makes it illegal to discriminate
against individuals based on disability. The ADA provides that
covered entities may conduct voluntary medical examinations,
including voluntary medical histories, as part of a workplace
wellness program. Many employers encourage participation in
wellness programs by offering rewards to employees who provide
their medical information or penalizing those who do not. Prior to
issuing this rule, neither the statute nor EEOC's regulations
addressed the extent to which financial and other incentives affect
the voluntary nature of a wellness program. The final rule,
including the third-party disclosure requirement, seeks to clarify
what makes a wellness program voluntary.
US Code:
42
USC 12101 Name of Law: Americans with Disabilities Act
The third-party disclosure
required by the final rule will ensure that employees either choose
to voluntarily disclose medical information that employers would
otherwise generally be prohibited from obtaining or decline to do
so. The burden associated with creating a notice to employees is
anticipated to be a one-time burden. Once employers have crafted
the notice, they would be able to annually redistribute the same
notice to all relevant employees, and would only need to develop a
new notice if they chose to collect medical information for a
different purpose than that described or changed the type or amount
of medical information collected. We believe any burden associated
with redistribution of the notice would be negligible.
$0
No
No
Yes
No
No
Uncollected
Joyce Walker-Jones 202
663-7031
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.