Question about an interesting email from HR

[Berry Cool]

A friend of mine recently forwarded to me this email she received from the HR department at her job. The employer shall, of course, be nameless.

It reads, in part, as follows (this is a paraphrase):

As you know, health care costs continue to rise. Our company believes controlling these costs is a shared responsibility. We provide health care benefits and participants help prevent accidents and illnesses through healthy living and using health care services wisely...

We have identified a personal health assessment survey tool that we are making available to everyone. By completing the survey, you’ll gain more insight into your current health status, which may help you live a healthier life...it requires a visit to the...Web site where you answer a series of questions about your current health status...Based on your responses, the program identifies your personal health risks, helps you learn about healthy habits and calculates your “lifestyle score” based on how you compare to others of your same age and gender. You can return to this site to update your personal survey and track your personal health goals...

Your participation is voluntary; your input and personal results will be kept confidential. However, if you report conditions known to be controllable health risks, you will receive a confidential e-mail with helpful tips, guidance and information from a specially trained online health care coach...

...HR will receive a management report summarizing various health risk factors reported by all participants...Only aggregate totals will be reported, not individual health information...This will allow HR to design and offer targeted health and wellness programs where our results could be better and help us measure our progress. We will share a summary of these overall results with everyone. We hope to use state-of-the-art technology to achieve a positive impact on rising health care costs.

We encourage everyone to participate between now and (deadline), even if you are already in the best of health...As an added incentive, the name of every employee who participates will be placed in a drawing to win a (prize)...

She sent it to me to look at because it raised her suspicions. She wonders if it isn't her company's sneaky back-door way of trying to figure out which employees have medical issues so that they can be targeted for elimination in some secret way they will never find out about. I mean, the message says HR will receive only an aggregate report, but how does she know that's true? In short, the privacy of everyone's medical records may be protected by HIPAA, but if employees "volunteer" their medical information by filling out a survey ostensibly designed to "help" them manage their health better, is that a loophole employers can use (especially if they get you to sign some legal gobbledygook you don't realize is designed to legalize your willing surrender of privacy) to find out who has chronic illnesses or health issues without doing anything illegal, and find some "reason" to cut them off the payroll? Should she respond?

We are curious to know what everyone thinks.

[raccoon]

1. I smell a rat!

"She sent it to me to look at because it raised her suspicions."

As well it might!

"She wonders if it isn't her company's sneaky back-door way of trying to figure out which employees have medical issues so that they can be targeted for elimination in some secret way they will never find out about."

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner.

"I mean, the message says HR will receive only an aggregate report, but how does she know that's true? In short, the privacy of everyone's medical records may be protected by HIPAA, but if employees "volunteer" their medical information by filling out a survey ostensibly designed to "help" them manage their health better, is that a loophole employers can use (especially if they get you to sign some legal gobbledygook you don't realize is designed to legalize your willing surrender of privacy) to find out who has chronic illnesses or health issues without doing anything illegal, and find some "reason" to cut them off the payroll? "

It probably isn't true. I've never encountered this, nor am I in H.R. But you don't need a weatherman to see which way the wind blows, as the poet said. H.R. isn't your friend. H.R. is to keep your employer's ass out of court.


"Should she respond?"

If you mean do the survey, hell, no.

[lukasahero]

2. I used to work in HR

We were not any where near as nefarious as people gave us credit for. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that many people who go into HR do so because they actually think they can HELP people.

I don't think most companies are looking for "sneaky" ways to get rid of people - I think they're looking for ways to reduce costs which, in many cases, means managing health issues rather than covering health crises.

YMMV

[MonteLukast]

3. I dunno...

I don't think most companies are looking for "sneaky" ways to get rid of people - I think they're looking for ways to reduce costs...

"Cutting costs" DOES usually mean getting rid of people. In theory, it doesn't, but in practice... well, y'know.

[MonteLukast]

4. I'm not sure I would participate in a blood drive at your company, either.

You don't want your employer taking a sample of your blood and running genetic tests on it. Yes, GINA passed, but they'll always try to find ways around it.

[Lisa0825]

5. Thank you.

Goodness... I haven't been to this forum in a few months, and I came back to find that my earlier posts, which were intended to be helpful were now being looked at negatively. I guess HR folks don't belong in a career help forum after all :(

FWIW, the more a large organization can reduce costs, the less premiums have to go up. Wellness programs have been proven to work very well at controlling costs so that more burden does not have to be put on the employee as costs rise.

[Berry Cool]

6. You know, that was never the intention of my original post.

And I would not want someone like you to leave. On the contrary! I think people like you actually do a great service to this forum by telling it "like it is" from "the other side" and giving job seekers an idea of what they have to do to get an HR recruiter's attention and keep from being one of the many candidates that gets tossed vs. find a way to be among those that gets contacted for an interview. You are providing a realistic perspective on how difficult your job is, and on why what seems like a heartless and cruel winnowing process to them is actually just something you have to do in order to make your job not completely impossible, much less do it well.

Also, I understand the value of wellness programs and of controlling health care costs by helping employees stay healthy. You get no argument from me there.

My big concern is simply with the potential for abuse of these company wellness programs, and I'm not even saying it starts with some nasty evil person in HR trying to do dastardly deeds. I'm saying, is the potential not there for bean-counters/management to come to HR and say "Look, we have a tough job to do, and we need your help..." As in, they need to find an end-run around HIPAA that will help them chuck out employees with health issues and replace them with those who appear not to have any?

Even if it never happens, the potential is there.

And I don't think it's wrong for us to be suspicious.