Employee Testing（针对雇员的检测）

　　Employee Testing

　　All forms of employee testing raise significant issues of potential violations of an employee's privacy rights. This includes honesty, psychological, and personality tests, genetic screening, substance abuse tests and polygraph examinations. This section will examine many of the problems involved and strategies that companies can use to act legally.

　　AIDS and Genetic Testing. Fear of AIDS is rampant in the work- place, but state legislatures and the courts are only beginning to define the rights of employees who have the disease. Before the enactment of the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibited businesses receiving federal money from discriminating against people afflicted with contagious diseases. Thus, firing an HIV-positive hospital worker would violate Section 504 of the act. In addition, most states have enacted laws protecting handicapped or disabled workers' rights of privacy and from on-the-job discrimination as long as they can perform their duties.

　　At present the law is not well settled in this area. AIDS testing of employees is mandated in some localities for food handlers, processors and waiters and most states, government agencies and the military mandate AIDS testing in blood donations.

　　The enactment of the ADA has significantly protected AIDS sufferers' privacy rights, since many pre-employment and on-the-job medical investigation practices and procedures that were once considered legal are now prohibited. For example, intrusions into a person's medical background and history are now substantially reduced. Application forms can no longer solicit answers to questions about whether the applicant is an individual with a disability, has a medical condition, or has ever been hospitalized or treated for a mental or emotional problem. Questions such as how many days was the applicant absent from other jobs and whether the applicant is currently taking medication are illegal. Pre-employment medical examinations cannot be conducted and employers are required to establish policies for staff and health providers regarding the disclo- sure and use of employee medical information.

　　Employers should review company handbooks and draft statements protecting against the unnecessary dissemination of medical information, and institute policies requiring supervisors and health providers to consult with company lawyers before disclosing any medical information. Related problems that have emerged must be carefully addressed: for example, how can your company be sure that the results of any job-related medical tests will remain confidential so as to avoid charges of slander or libel and other invasions of privacy?

　　TIP: Due to the ADA and pertinent state laws, pre-hiring and on-the-job AIDS tests are probably not legal. Since each case must be scrutinized on a factual basis, speak to a knowledgeable labor lawyer before implementing such tests.

　　Even the issue of genetic testing is unsettled. Many major corporations are currently testing the relationship of inherited genetic traits to occupational disease to determine if there are certain predisposing risks to employees and job applicants. More and more companies are considering using such tests and the extent to which the ADA will curtail their use is now being studied by labor lawyers throughout the country.

　　针对雇员的检测（Employee Testing）

　　所有形式的针对雇员进行的测试都可能引发重大的问题，它们都潜在地可能侵犯雇员的隐私权。这些测试包括诚实度、心理、人格测试，基因测定、毒品以及多波动检查。本文将要谈的是有关的许多问题以及公司所能采取的合法策略。

　　AIDS检测与基因测定

　　对艾滋的恐惧在工作场所容易蔓延，而州的立法机关和法院刚刚开始界定患有艾滋病的雇员的权利。 在《美国联邦残疾人法案》（ADA）颁布之前，1973年《康复法案》504节禁止获得联邦资助的企业歧视传染病患者。因此，解雇HIV 阳性的雇员是违反《康复法案》504节的。除此之外，大多数州都制定法律来保护残疾工人的隐私权，并要求：在他们能够履行工作的条件下，不得在工作场合歧视他们。

　　目前，这个领域的法律发展还没有最后确定。对雇员的艾滋检测在某些地区是针对食品制造者、加工者和服务生的，在大多数州，对政府机构的工作人员要进行这项检查，在军队，则针对血液捐献者。

　　在保护艾滋病人的隐私权方面，ADA的颁布具有重大意义，因为先前被视为合法的许多雇用之前的以及工作中的医疗调查现在被该法案禁止了。例如，侵入一个人的医疗背景和历史的行为现在就大大减少了。申请表格不能再包括如下问题：是否有残疾、是否有健康问题、是否住过院，是否精神或情绪上的问题。申请人从其他工作上离开多久，现在是否在就医，诸如此类的问题都是不合法的。雇主不能进行雇用之前的医疗检查，而且必须为职员和医疗服务供应者就有关披露雇员健康信息的问题确立政策。 医.学教.育网搜.集整理

　　雇主应当审查公司手册，制定规则使健康信息不受不必要的披露，并拟定政策规定监督者在披露任何健康信息之前，必须向顾问律师咨询。已经出现的相关的问题必须获得审视：例如，你的公司如何保障所有与工作相关的医疗检测结果能够保持秘密状态，而不遭受诽谤以及侵犯隐私的指控？

　　基因测定的问题还没有最终解决。目前，许多大企业正在测定遗传基因特征与职业病的关系，来判断职员和职位申请人有没有健康上的风险。越来越多的企业正在使用这样的检测方式，以至于ADA在何种程度上应该限制这一使用在美国成为劳工领域律师的研究课题。