I know that employers are entitled to see copies of medical appointments if you ask for time off work for them. Does anyone know if they need to / are entitled to keep a copy of these for their records?
Would appreciate it if anyone could point me towards some legislation/guidance on this. Seems like the kind of thing the STW meganerds* are good at.
* I mean this term as a very high compliment, by the way.
I would expect that if they are allowing you time off gratis to attend them, then the policy in place will allow them to do so.
If there's no written policy, it does seem reasonable to me to me to keep a record of the missed time but not nec the appointments themselves - what is the reason for doing so - what conditions you have? - IDK if they have a right to that info
What does "copies of medical appointments" mean?
I would assume that you're talking about some sort of written confirmation that you had a medical appointment - which seems reasonable. You should make sure that whatever paperwork you're providing doesn't actually contain any medical information in - it should just confirm date/time of appointment.
If thats the case, I'd have no issue of them keeping a copy of it - doesn't say anything that you haven't already told them.
Edit: unless the Dr's letterhead speaks for itself - in which case, just get them to do you something on non-headed paper
If you request that your employer destroy all copy of data relating to you then GDPR says they are legall required to do so. They are allowed to keep a record of your employment however, detailing things like your name, when you were employed from and to, your salary, the duties you carried out and a record of your performance. That data would, I imagine, fall under the heading of 'legitimate interest', which is the clause that allows companies to keep any data point they have about you.
I'm not sure they can't keep it if it's legitimate or may be for legitimate use. I.e. if there's an attendance policy an employee may be subject to action if any specified triggers are hit. I'd assume the detail of the absence(s) would be important when considering if action ought to be taken so I'd think it's a legitimate reason to retain whilst the absence(s) is live (in that it may fall under the periods/instances quoted in the attendance policy)
Absence.....which is basically what a medical appointment is, is a legitimate record to keep, specifics of the appointment ie doctor dentist etc are also leitimate, but treatment details may not be, there are 2 sides to gdpr, a persons right to privacy, but also correct record keeping by an organisation. The above scenario actually falls into both so correct record keeping overrides an employees wishes (If the employee/er later wants to use the appts in evidence with regard to so kind of industrial dispute the correct records have to be in place and retained for up to 7 years)..
If you request that your employer destroy all copy of data relating to you then GDPR says they are legall required to do so
No it doesn’t. The caveats you describe might be applicable to a former employer but probably not a current employer. An employer of former employer MIGHT be able to justify keeping details of medical appointments under Article 17 (3) c or e.
OK thanks all.
I'm just wondering if an employer really needs photocopies of appointment letters on record, particularly if they already have a method of recording the absence anyway.
I'm not clear if there could really be a legitimate reason for holding that information, as opposed to simply a record that states the reason for absence and that evidence for the absence has been seen.
Depends on whether you are using your own time or company's time for the appointment - it really depends what your employer's leave policy is. If you are asking them to flex your hours or give you time-off (e.g. like sick leave) then they'd be entitled to record it as absence / reasons why. If however, you're using your own time e.g. from your holiday entitlement, then it should only be recorded as leave. My previous employer went from giving line manager discretion to a flexible working scheme where any such appointments were to not considered working hours. If you don't want your employer to know why, take it as leave would be my suggestion.
I’m not clear if there could really be a legitimate reason for holding that information, as opposed to simply a record that states the reason for absence and that evidence for the absence has been seen.
Contrary to what the community of GDPR consultants implies there is not a simple magic set of rules. Each data controller needs to make their own mind up what data is really necessary and how long to keep it for. It would certainly be easier to do as you suggest and record the basics; but every company is different so some will trust their managers to be thorough/robust and some will want to be able to audit their decisions. Some employees take the piss; if you needed to (or were considering) taking action against an employee it might be useful to have some idea whether the appointments were all for some ongoing condition (which might mean you are protected under the Equality Act - as a reasonable adjustment for a disability (which is very widely defined)) or it might mean you’ve just been really unlucky. It may also be useful to have more details than a tick box - e.g. if you have a 15 minute appointment at 0930 but don’t appear in the office until 1430...
Personally I have never been asked for, nor ever asked for, sight of an employee’s appointment letter. To me though the question would be, do they still have any valid reason to hold on to it say 12 months later if you have no further appointments. Your company’s privacy notice will explain what data they hold, how long for and why though... doesn’t it?