Employer has requested to see my maternity notes

[Gilli1234]

Can anyone advise please? I’m only 10 weeks but have had numerous appointments so far under the recurrent miscarriage clinic for scans and checks to see how this pregnancy is progressing. I have now been told that due to previous cervix surgery I am to be seen frequently by the pre term labour clinic.
I have emailed my employer to let them know I will not be in work (I am a field based rep so many of my customers are 100 miles away) for said appointments. Every time I have offered to show them hospital letters with my appointments on, which have all been ignored up until now.
Last night I received an email stating that they wish to access my medical record via an HR medical officer to ascertain
‘The current state of your health and how this has affected your ability to carry out your role with the Company.

I would also like to ask your permission to contact your GP to obtain a medical opinion on your condition’

I’m horrified! Is this even legal?!
What are your thoughts?
I get the impression this is a thinly veiled attempt to come across as concerned how we I’m reading it as if they are fed up with me taking time off and want to know why.
Any advice, similar situations?
Thank you

They need your consent to see your medical records and if you don't give it, there is nothing they can do. Though this is probably standard and in the interest of your welfare and not anyone could look into your records at all, so you should surely realize they're not asking because they're nosey?

Yes, you are overreacting and shooting yourself in the foot. They want a professional, independent opinion on what duties you can safely carry out. They can't force you off on the back of it - as a PP said if you can't do your job safely and no alternative safe duties can be found they are obliged to put you on leave on full pay.

By all means discuss your concerns, but if you go in with the mindset you're showing here you'll make things very antagonistic unnecessarily.

This is a health and safety issue for the company. It's not about time off for appointments.

Exactly. It wouldn't be sensible of them to send you out every day tootling about the country on your own when you could potentially have a condition which they should've taken into account when assigning you work throughout your pregnancy. OH reports are a supportive measure and it might be to your advantage to attend.

Your appointment letters aren’t enough because they aren’t asking to prove where you are; they are asking so that they can assess your ability to do your job.

They have a responsibility to safeguard you at work and ensure you are fit for the role. They cannot ascertain this from just appointment letters I’m afraid.

I would imagine if you refuse you may have to sign something saying you take full responsibility for your health while working and the company will not be liable for anything that happens. You also may not be paid for medical appointments anymore.

It isn't your company who want to see your notes. It is a representative advisor to your company who wants to view your notes, so that they can advise your company whether they have any duties as an employer towards you as a pregnant employee. This is the correct and responsible action to take.

The options for your employer are to either:
a) allow you to continue with your duties unaltered.
b) allow you to continue with your duties with modification
c) provide you with alternative duties
d) suspend you on full pay

Until they've had advice, they won't be able to say that they are acting responsibly. Appointment letters don't give any information about the level of risk.

You could refuse access to your notes and give the game of your Consultant, saying that you are willing for them to be contacted for an opinion, but that may take some time and your employer may be unhappy about that.

I’ve beeb in a situation where my employer has requested access to my medical records and I know it’s not pleasant. I would comply however, especially in this situation.

Your employer will be concerned about the risk of you losing the baby while at work. They are trying to assess the risk and your appointment letters can’t tell them that.

Few employers are stupid enough to try and get rid of someone for pregnancy related reasons and the HR consultant will Male that clear to them. However, if they did act unlawfully and you tried to take them to a tribunal, you’ll have a tough time if you’ve refused to cooperate with their efforts to do a proper risk assessment.

I believe when I went through this that the records went to the occupational health doctor. I was allowed to go through it with my GP and remove things which weren’t relevant. Once I’d met with OH I was allowed to see the report first and refute or add comments if I felt it was incorrect. They weren’t allowed to send my records directly to my boss.

"You also may not be paid for medical appointments anymore."

Employers can only go above and beyond the law, they can't take away rights enshrined in law. The law gives pregnant employees the right to time off for pregnancy related appointments.

I work in a field based role and was given a risk assessment where no changes were made but it will be reviewed every 4 weeks.

As the pregnancy progresses I'll be looking at more wfh days or local visits where possible. My pregnancy isn't deemed as high risk but if my work asked to see my notes I'd be happy for them too as it is to put support in place. However I can imagine I would also feel defensive over it

@Gilli1234 actually I have been in your position. I’m 19 weeks pregnant with my second. I was referred to OH for my first pregnancy. They asked for access to my medical notes which I was happy to give as it only pertained to my pregnancy and nothing else. So thanks for the passive aggressive judgement but you’re wrong.

Quite honestly I’m not sure why you feel the it’s a bad thing when they are simply trying to protect themselves from you suing them and you/your baby from potential risk/harm. Why else do you believe they would want your medical records? What is it you think they want to achieve? You’ve been there less than 2 years, if they wanted rid of you they could have done that at any time before now with no reason.

I imagine it's for a detailed risk assessment, if they don't do one I don't think they are insured properly to have you there.
I'd rather an external person had my medical notes than someone I would bump into every day!

The law gives pregnant employees the right to time off for pregnancy related appointments.

Reasonable time off.

I know its horrolible OP but they are doing nothing wrong. You pushing back over this could actually affect you.

Why are you so against working with them?

Your medical records are private and confidential and you always retain the right to refuse to allow access however your employer may need more information to help them minimise any potential risk to your health that might be caused by your work.

Normally you'd be referred to an Occupational Health professional who would write a report advising your employer on your ability to continue to undertake your work duties with any recommendations for reasonable adjustments. They should discuss with you what information is relevant to be given to your employer and its not likely to be in depth info regarding your cervix and you should be offered the opportunity to see the report.

You can decline to co-operate however the company then has the right to make decisions about your employment without the benefit of information that is likely to make a difference.

If you've had so many appointments then I'd just go with it. I don't see the issue. It's your notes are just facts on the page. So many people will read your notes, prod and poke you. Then giving birth the world will come in and out.

I was on a contract for a small company during being pregnant with My first DC. If I had afternoon appointment then I would take half a days holiday, so I wouldn't work the morning and then the appointment would be paid time off. I still had to do my job and I didn't want anyone to resent me.

If it is via an occ health professional then yes it is legal and normal if you were on the sick. The fact you are not on the sick though makes this very unusual. You are entitled to paid time off for anti natal appointments- il not sure if it states reasonable time off so you might want to check that.

Does anyone know the implications if I choose to withhold my medical information? (Which I will do)

I strongly recommend you do not do this.

If you do, and something happens whilst you are at work, your employer can say that they tried to support you and you refused and you would have no come back. You'll also struggle to argue later in pregnancy that you need additional support/ reduction in hours without having to go through it again.

It sounds like they want to ensure they are meeting their legal obligation to you, ensuring they aren't asking you to do anything that would jeopardize your health and wellbeing.

You are pregnant, they cannot sack you for this. They can adjust your hours, move your job role or put you on sick. But it would have to be temporary and only until you were on mat leave and it would not be detrimental to you in terms of pay or career progression if it were their decision.

I can understand why you feel like this, especially how you feel they have been as an employer.

I used to work in HR and really I urge you to cooperate. You will look like you have something to hide if you don't and your employer will not be able to support you as easily in the ways you may need. Even if they have ulterior motives, sharing the information will only support you and strengthen your position as you are evidencing everything.

Conversely when I was 20 weeks in my second pregnancy I was having a lot of appointments due to pgp and sciatica as well as other maternity appointments. I was able to minimise the disruption to work by scheduling as carefully as I could but the time out in conjunction with the pain I was in effected my performance at work and so I requested an occupational health review. This review was pivotal in supporting me and ensuring that I was properly supported. My manager had been considering performance management but occupational health set them straight. As an aside 2 months prior to falling pregnant I had received an award (which included a bonus) from my employer for my excellent performance. In the end my GP signed me off and occupational health again supported me. I think it may have played out very differently had I not requested a meeting with occupational health.

You can see this as your employer attacking you, or you can utilise the request by providing as much information as you can so you are as protected as possible. Make sure you get copies of everything and ask for notes of all conversations for your records.

I'm actually astounded that you intend on withholding your medical notes.

I'm going through this with a member of my team at the moment who has also had many appointments (as I have) and she has been more than willing to share all of her notes because she has nothing to hide, and the purpose of the Occ Health process is that we as employers can assure that appropriate adjustments are being made for her. I.e. working from home if needed, shorter days, avoiding travelling in peak hours etc.

Your employer has a duty of care, but so do you. I can't believe you'd want to withhold information that could help you get further support for your unborn child to make the pregnancy easier.

@Pinkprincess1978 I have not taken a single day off sick relating to this pregnancy. In fact only 4 in 12 months and that was after a miscarriage where I needed a d&c. The only time off I have had is to attend HOSPITAL appointments not antenatal stuff, for example a cervical scan with a view to having a stitch put in.

@TokenGinger I just feel that this is such a personal matter, why must they know the ins and outs? They are my employer not my clinical team and have no right to know. I have NOTHING to hide (and frankly I find your insinuation insulting) my midwife agrees and is writing to my employer slaking them to back off. I will allow a letter from my GP but certainly not access to my medical records.
You can really tell you work in HR!

They're not being intrusive for the sake of being nosey or disbelieving you. Your appointment letters aren't enough because it sounds as if it's not the time off you're having that is bothering them but the fact that you need so much medical intervention. It's absolutely necessary for your welfare of course but it is also the legal obligation of an employer to assess whether or not you are fit to be doing the job that you are doing. If they find that you are not, they will amend your duties or it can mean you are (not sure exactly how it works) but sort of dismissed as you're not able to do your job. It's actually all for your benefit and the company will always try to accommodate.

I understand it's difficult but the company is doing what they are legally required to do.

Your mid wife writing a letter will not do anything except escalate this situation

They are acting within the law to protect themseleves in the event something happens. Your mid wife telling them to back of means nothing.

The fact that she is will only make them convinced that they need to do something and you are a health and safety risk.

OP you're not listening. They do have a right to know. If you were or the baby were to, god forbid, come to any harm and it could be in any way attributed to your work, the company could find themselves in a horrendous legal situation.

They are doing it as it is their legal obligation to fully assess your ability and competence to perform your job role. You can withhold your records but it won't get you anywhere and they could easily then decide that because they can't come to an accurate determination about whether it is a health and safety risk for you to perform your job role that they will suspend you with pay to cover their backsides.

I know it's uncomfortable to share private information but you've asked if they have a right to do it. People are explaining that they do and why and you're not listening. Whether you allow it or not is absolutely your business and your decision to make but the answer to your question is that your employer is not being unreasonable.

and have no right to know.
They do have a right to know though. You can remove anything non pregnancy related from your notes that you don’t want them to see.

It does seem like you’re going to create a lot of hard work and stress for yourself (which you probably don’t need ontop of a complicated pregnancy) because you don’t want them to see your notes when they are bring completely reasonable asking for them.
Would it not just be easier and less stressful for you to just allow them access.

There are probably going to be other things that come up in terms of pregnancy/maternity/adjustments needed when you have the baby/request for flexible working/time off with baby,etc. Your employer is likeky to be more accommodating if you work with them on this, rather than ‘fighting’ them for the sake of it.

@Gilli1234 Where does it say I work in HR? I said a member of my team is going through something similar. I don't work for, nor with, HR. But HR is supporting the lady in my team to ensure she and her baby are supported in the most appropriate way at work.

It's your shout. You get get on your high horse and cause yourself additional unnecessary stress or you could allow your employer to support you.