I have seen such forms and can give examples of the types of questions asked
-
Are you colour blind? (This is asked of all employees, not just those
applying for a job as an electrician or a bomb disposal expert)
Do you bite your nails? (Apparently this is a sign of stress, rather than a
bad habit)
When was the last time you had a smear test? (Again all employees, not just
the female ones)
I thought these were likely to breach the Act unless properly signposted as
to their relevance - can anyone give more blatant examples?
Ian B
-----------
In a message dated 24/01/05 09:32:17 GMT Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
> I work for HBS supporting Lincolnshire County Council. I am not
> actually a member of the DP list but I am covering for Data Protection
> in David Forbes' absence. One of the queries he has received concerns a
> medical form which is sent out.
>
> I have attached the form for your reference and the concerns raised
> about it are below:
>
> "When I was offered my current job here at LCC it was on the condition
> that I had satisfactory references and that I was also fit enough, I had
> complete a Well Work Employee Occupation Health form (see attached). The
> form consisted of 64 medical questions which is obviously very personal.
> Although I did not agree with the form I completed it anyway as I
> really wanted the job and I didn't want to disadvantage myself in
> anyway.
>
> I thought that the attached form was breaching principals 1 and 3 of
> the Data Protection Act?
>
> I think that it is probably a valid point as although some of the
> questions may well be relevant to some jobs, all of the questions are
> not relevant to all jobs. The point about filling in the form is
> interesting because as people have usually been offered a job before
> they see this form they may feel that although they disagree with
> filling the form in they may well do so rather than querying the form as
> they feel that this may jeopardise the job they are being offered."
>
> My own feelings are that the form does not reference the DP Act and the
> nature of the wording compels you to fill in the details even though you
> would feel uneasy doing so.
>
Ian Buckland
Managing Director
Keep IT Legal Ltd
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