The question of what illness an employee must report to a manager exists at the intersection of an individual’s right to medical privacy and an employer’s obligation to maintain a safe and functional workplace. While an employee’s health information is generally protected, that protection is not absolute when the condition directly impacts job performance or presents a demonstrable threat to colleagues or customers. Determining the line between a personal health matter, such as a routine cold, and a reportable condition requires understanding the legal frameworks that prioritize public health and operational safety. This balance shifts the focus from a medical diagnosis to the practical effect of the illness on the work environment.
The Baseline: Employee Privacy Rights
Employees maintain a significant degree of control over their private medical information and are not obligated to disclose every ailment to their employer. Absent a specific business need or regulatory requirement, a manager generally cannot demand a specific diagnosis or extensive details about a non-work-related illness. This expectation of medical privacy is deeply ingrained in workplace practices. The employer’s right to ask questions is typically limited to determining the reason for an absence and when the employee is expected to return to work. For a short-term illness, an employee can usually state they are “unwell” or “experiencing symptoms” without providing a full medical history.
Mandatory Reporting for Workplace Safety
The primary exception to an employee’s right to silence occurs when an illness poses a significant risk to the work environment, legally justifying mandatory disclosure. An employer’s ability to request information or require a medical examination hinges on the “job-related and consistent with business necessity” standard. This standard is met when the employer reasonably believes an employee’s medical condition will impair their ability to perform essential job functions or cause a direct threat to the health or safety of others. This must be an individualized assessment, not based on stereotypes or generalized fears about a condition.
The determination that an employee poses a direct threat is a stringent legal test, requiring objective evidence that the risk is significant and the potential harm is substantial. This level of inquiry is most common in safety-sensitive positions, such as those involving heavy machinery or hazardous materials. If the risk of harm cannot be eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level through a reasonable workplace adjustment, the employer has a basis for mandatory disclosure to implement protective measures.
Communicable Diseases Requiring Disclosure
Certain types of illnesses trigger specific reporting requirements because they present a clear and quantifiable public health risk that outweighs general privacy concerns. These disclosures are usually regulated by public health agencies or industry-specific safety standards.
Highly Contagious Illnesses
Employees must report a diagnosis of a highly contagious, reportable disease to allow the employer to implement protective measures. Public health authorities often compile lists of diseases, such as measles, mumps, and tuberculosis, that require reporting to prevent community spread. During periods of widespread outbreak, like seasonal influenza or a pandemic event, employers may also ask general questions about symptoms to determine if an employee should be kept away from the workplace. The employer’s action focuses on managing the risk of transmission by temporarily excluding the employee.
Foodborne Illnesses
For employees who handle or prepare food, the requirement to report certain illnesses is mandatory and strictly enforced by public health codes. Food workers must immediately notify their Person-In-Charge (PIC) if they experience symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting, or jaundice, or if they are diagnosed with specific pathogens. This disclosure is required because these conditions are easily transmissible through food and pose a direct threat to public health, necessitating the employee’s exclusion from work until they are symptom-free for a specified period, often 24 to 48 hours.
Reportable foodborne illnesses include:
- Salmonella (including Salmonella typhi)
- Norovirus
- Shigella
- Hepatitis A
Bloodborne Pathogens
The diagnosis of a bloodborne pathogen is private information that does not require disclosure to an employer. However, employees in occupations with exposure risk, often covered by OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, have a mandatory duty to report an exposure incident. This incident is defined as contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials resulting from the performance of their duties. Immediate reporting is required to initiate a confidential medical evaluation and time-sensitive post-exposure prophylactic treatment, which must be made available to the employee at no cost.
Reporting Requirements for Reasonable Accommodations
An employee must report an illness or disability when the condition affects their capacity to execute the essential functions of their job, thereby triggering a request for a workplace adjustment. This situation shifts the motivation for disclosure from public health risk to job performance risk. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities, but the employee must initiate this process by making the employer aware of the need for an adjustment.
The employee does not have to disclose their full medical diagnosis, but they must disclose the functional limitations caused by the condition that necessitate an accommodation. This starts an “interactive process” where the employer and employee discuss effective modifications to the job or work environment. The employer can request medical documentation, but this documentation must be limited to confirming the existence of an ADA-covered disability and explaining the limitations that require the requested accommodation. Employees must also disclose a serious health condition to qualify for protected time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
The Employer’s Role and Confidentiality
Once an illness or medical condition has been reported, the employer assumes significant legal obligations regarding confidentiality. Managers must treat all health information, including documentation related to accommodations or exposure incidents, as confidential. This information must be stored physically separate from the employee’s general personnel file, often in a locked drawer or a secure, restricted-access electronic file.
Disclosure of this sensitive information is restricted to a strict “need-to-know” basis to prevent discrimination or privacy breaches. Information may be shared with supervisors and managers who need to know about necessary work restrictions, first aid and safety personnel for emergency treatment purposes, and government officials investigating compliance. The manager must never discuss an employee’s health condition or accommodation details with colleagues or other non-essential personnel. Employers also have a non-retaliation obligation, meaning they cannot take adverse action against an employee for requesting an accommodation or reporting an illness as required by law.