I'm interested that people think that the only Schedule 3 condition related to this issue is No 1 (explicit consent). What about No 2 - :
The processing is necessary for the purposes of exercising or performing any right or obligation which is conferred or imposed by law on the data controller in connection with employment.
Depending on the content of the contract of employment, surely some of the issues that have been raised are covered, but the employer needs to show 'necessity' in terms of effective organisation of work in the individual's absence, ensuring health and safety if the illness may affect performance of the work (e.g. if a catering worker has a disease that may have impacted on the safety of the catering / been communicated to other workers), protecting legal interests etc. Clearly sticking up a label disclosing what the illness is where it can be seen by other workers who don't need to know wouldn't meet the standard, but telling a colleague who has to cover some of the work whether the sick person is likely to be back in 3 days or 3 months and discussing the arrangements for cover would. I'm assuming that the reference to 'law' here would extend to the law relating to employment contracts and not simply elements that are statutory. If I'm wrong, someone put me right quickly!
Doreen wrote:
I take your point though Tommy but surely it is only "sensitive" if the
actual illness is apparent and if any colleagues have been sick everyone
usually asks out of kindness if they are better - and normally they tell us
about their illness and if it was sensitive to them then they would normally
say something on the lines of "I'd rather not talk about it".
The Act says that information about "physical or mental health or condition" is sensitive, so I guess recording that someone is 'sick' is enough, technically. Obviously observing the niceties may go against the prevailing culture in most workplaces, but someone's bound to object sooner or later if another worker who's 'on their case' gets to know they are sick!
Paul
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