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

I think getting your midwife roped in and refusing access to your medical notes will make this much, much more stressful than complying and being open and honest. The OH report will be sent to you before your employers, it's intended to be a transparent process. This is a genuine pregnancy related issue, you have nothing to hide and you only have to disclose information relevant to that if you want.

The ramifications of your condition are further reaching than time off for appointments, and to protect themselves your employer needs to be careful about how they take that into consideration with regards to your normal role. It would be negligent of them to know that an employee might be under physical and emotional strain with a potentially high risk of m/c and yet continue to send them hightailing around the country on their own, lifting samples/marketing materials in and out of the car or not making adjustments to targets or rest breaks.

After recurrent losses I can understand this must be an incredibly stressful time, but this is not the hill you want to die on.

They are my employer not my clinical team and have no right to know

Yes they do. You really aren't listening.

A PP said you should able to give access to notes related only to your pregnancy. I really don't see there being an issue with that. I wouldn't like them to see everything so I do understand that!

In the nicest possible way, I really don't understand why you have started this thread as you're not listening to any advice and you are coming across as rude to people who are trying to help you.

Hope you sort it

So hands on table as it seems important - I do work in HR.

First I want to reassure you that your employer should not be given any details about your conditions directly from the occ health provider. They will be given guidance on how to support you/adjust your working practices/hours etc but nothing personal. They can ask questions before the referral which you can/will be told.

The person from the occ health company asking for access to your records may well not be health care trained but they won’t be the one reviewing the information. They will just be a facilitator of the information in much the same way your midwife probably isn’t typing up and sending your appointments directly to you.

You can stipulate (it shouldn’t be nessesary as it is usually in my experience a given) that they are only to be give details relating to your current condition.

Some pp have made some excellent points that your employer could be doing all this to ensure you are protected in your high risk pregnancy so you should support and help them in this.

Another potential reason could be they pay for some sort of absence insurance. You taking so much time off, and by the sounds of it we are not talking about pooping out to your local hospital down the road from the office for an hour, that they are likely to be out of pocket as a company significantly. If they pay for an absence insurance it maybe they will be covered in some way and trying ti facilitate that getting paid. EG, if occ health recommend they give you a local base for the duration of your pregnancy or as someone else suggested you are signed off medically on full pay they may be able to claim for you.

You won’t do yourself any favours refusing to work with them over this. You do have rights and as others have pointed out your employment rights are even more protected while pregnant or on maternity leave so you have less to worry about than others. But your employer is still a business too and they need to look out for both parties best interests.

Actually, according to maternity action, your employer cannot demand access to your medical records in order to carry out health and safety assessments, but they do have a right to carry out the assessment if you have informed them in writing that you are pregnant. (www.maternityaction.org.uk/2018/06/health-and-safety-during-pregnancy/)

They have a duty of care to you OP.

Your notes are not going to be passed around HR for fun, a medical officer (often a HCP who is only employed for this type of situation).

Your employer will receive a report advising THEM what they have to do to ensure your safety during your pregnancy.

This could be reducing hours, reducing duties, allowing you to start maternity leave earlier, supply you with better seating, ofer you rest breaks etc etc.

The last time I worked with someone who was pregnant she had to have a meeting every week with a line manager to see if she needed any adjustments, this was a very normal pregnancy.

Your appointment letters just show them you have appointments.

@sashh I’m a field based rep so I’m either working or I’m not.

@newrubylane exactly- they have no right to access medical records! I spoke to my midwife today. She said they are overstepping the mark and will happily chat to them about the pregnancy if I wish. This is surely all they need... I don’t want them seeing anything about my previous miscarriages or severe depression thanks!

@pinkprincess1978 ‘you are taking so much time off’ really? Am I? I’ve had 4 appointments and have 2 in January. No sick days, as I keep repeating.
I really do not care if they make a loss and or can claim back any absence on insurance. They have treated me shoddily from my first week, where on my first day there was nothing ready for me and nobody knew I was arriving at head office. What a welcome, what a company! Tip of the iceberg. So forgive me if I seem a little reluctant to help them out...!

@SillySallySingsSongs no, they don’t. Medical notes are private. how would you feel about a random HR person you’ve never met and your boss seeing your pregnancy notes?

They can not force you to show them. They can request and if you refuse they can act accordingly.

If they were so shit, why did you stay working there?

Them being shit doesn't change your situation.

Can’t believe some of these replies. Op I think you are absolutely right not to share your medical records with them. Your records are highly personal and confidential.

They can do assessments with you to check your suitability to work. No need for them to have access to your most private information.

But your employer and HR person won't see your notes. A trained medical professional in occ health will review your notes and guide your employer appropriately.

I see occ health reports quite frequently and they are as impersonal as they can be and focuses on your job and what restrictions any condition might impact on it not on the condition itself. The most is usually does is state what a condition is called which we get from a sick note anyway. It won't mention previous miscarriages as they are not relevant in so much as you are receiving extra care from your maternity team but really are not relevant to work. They may ask things like, 'Will she be able to undertake the level of driving required in the role' for example.

Plus you can request to see the report before it is released to your employer so you can assess if it says more than you are comfortable with.

Sorry if I have miss interpreted your posts but I assumed you were still in your early stages of pregnancy so yes 4/6 visits is quite a lot. Sorry if you are near the end already then of course that isn't too many. Also read from your posts that ad you usually work 100(s) of miles away then an appointment might actually impact your whole day (understandable of course) but also they is different as I said before to someone popping out from work for an hour or two for 4 appointments to you whose 4 appointments might impact 4 whole days works. Again, sorry if that isn't what you meant but it is how I hand read it.

Medical notes are private. how would you feel about a random HR person you’ve never met and your boss seeing your pregnancy notes?

My previous employers did. I had many complications during pregnancy and birth that nearly killed me. I also had numerous miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy. I had no issue with them seeing it.

Continue to push back if you want, but don't be suprised if you end up shooting yourself in the foot in the process.

They can do assessments with you to check your suitability to work.

Maybe but don't complain if the outcome affects you as a result of them not having all the relevant info.

I work in education and my line manager HAS to conduct a health review when I declare pregnancy. It is to ensure the safety of me whilst working - in my case a plan was put into place for colleagues to swing by as I solo work in the library often and to adjust my desk arrangements a little. I very much doubt that when 'asking for access' to your records that they actually see your records. It is surely a case of them asking permission to ask your health care professionals relevant questions pertaining to your wellbeing for work. If they don't do this then they could be liable if there is an accident or if you become unwell from the stress of work and pregnancy. Complying with them and being professional yourself will surely make it harder for then to do anything untoward like dismissal and if it came to that you would be able to prove that you were complying and being a good employee. It would be good evidence for you.

As so many other posters have said you need to look at this as a positive step by your employer. They are duty bound to do a risk assessment on your pregnancy and will want to ensure that aspects of your role don’t affect you or your child and if there are elements that will (frequent travel for example) that reasonable adjustments are made to allow you to carry out your job without any impact to your or your child’s healt

Some of these replies are shocking.
Interesting and worrying takes on private information. I think I’m done here.

@Notacluethisxmas I stayed there because I don’t want less than 12 months at a job on my cv. Clearly that doesn’t matter to you but I don’t want to look like I can’t stay in a job very long. It’s a professional role, not working at Tesco.

Some of these replies are shocking.

Because they don't agree with you. If you wanted a thread full of posters only agreeing with you, you should have said.

I do not predict a good outcome to this situation. Op - you have been told that your notes would be evaluated by a clinical expert, they're not pinning them up in the staff canteen.

As many - MANY - people have said, it is in YOUR best interests to comply. But you seem to have decided that you're going to make it as difficult as possible for them. I hope for your sake that they don't retaliate in kind.

Sorry if this has already been said but they're not asking for your full medical records only a medical report on certain aspects of your pregnancy as it affects your health. I had to do this when I was having chemo. You can ask to see the doctor's opinion or report before it is sent to your employer and ask for anything you feel uncomfortable to be omitted.

@OriginallyfromLA
You sound delightful! I’m sure they won’t reatilate but thank you. Why don’t you go back to LA?