You caught a stomach bug that was making its rounds, and it laid you pretty low. In fact, your illness caused you to miss several days of work.
Even though you submitted a doctor’s excuse for the days you were absent, your boss now wants to call your doctor to verify that you were really sick?
Can companies do that?
In a word, yes. While it can seem to be a very invasive practice, your employer can call your doctor’s office and ask for verification of the accuracy and legitimacy of the note.
The reason companies engage in this practice is to screen out fraudulent work excuses. Human Resource (HR) departments have seen every attempted work excuse in the world, from repeatedly dead grandparents and stolen prescription pads to spouses, friends or relatives being the ones who answer the telephone to verify the doctors’ excuses.
What your company cannot do
Every patient has rights that are covered under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that prevent your private medical information from being disseminated to others without you signing a form granting your health care provider(s) permission to share it.
Unless you give that permission — and you have no compelling reason to grant it — your doctors can only confirm or deny that you were absent from work on specific dates due to a medical condition.
If the HR staffer disputes the veracity of the note, they may read it over the phone or fax it to the health care facility to make sure it is genuine, but that is all the information that can legally be shared about it.
Were you discriminated against in your workplace?
True discrimination is often a series of similar or related actions or omissions that damage you, your reputation or professional status. Learning more about how to prove these claims could help bolster any future case.