What can an existing employer ask you about your health?

[OverlyRighteous76]

We've all been asked to fill in a medical questionnaire at work, and I'm struggling to find out whether they're entitled to the information they're requesting despite their assurances that it's 'completely normal practice in any company'. Information online seems to only refer to the recruitment process.

Questions are of the following sort of nature:

Have you ever had to give up any previous job for medical reasons?
Period of absence in the last 5 years exceeding a month.
Do we take medication or tablets on a regular basis?
If we've had eczema in the last t years?
If we've consulted a doctor about our health in the past 12 months.

I'm just struggling see how they have grounds to ask some of this but as I said, can't find the information online. 90% of the queries seem completely irrelevant to our roles and would have no impact on our productivity, etc.

Is anyone able to advise that has knowledge or experience in this area, please?

I would ask them why they need this info - this is 'sensitive personal data' under GDPR regs, and they must have a reason for holding it. Would the info be relevant to some employees in your organisation - might they need to work with chemicals that could aggravate eczema?

What sort of work does it involve, medication and eczema might be relevant if it involves machinery and chemicals. The rest I don't know, do they ask for details or do you just tick yes or no. Do they have a h.r. or occy health department who can show you the policy.