WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released guidelines for how Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) relate to employee wellness programs.
The goal of EEOC’s new rules is to help employers create wellness programs for their workers but do so in a way that complies with all discrimination laws. The guidelines will allow wellness programs to operate consistently with their stated purpose of improving employee health.
Employers generally cannot obtain and use information about their employees’ health conditions. However, with these rules, employers can ask health-specific questions and conduct medical examinations as long as the employer is providing health or genetic services as part of a voluntary wellness program.