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Balance between privacy and workplace contact tracing critical
Even if an employee has become infected with coronavirus by virtue of going on a Tinder date, there shouldn’t be any reason for that to be disclosed in the workplace.
Jerome Doraisamy
Even in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic, businesses must protect themselves and their employees by knowing what is and isn’t acceptable under the Privacy Act 1988 in the event that an employee contracts coronavirus, says Travis Schultz Law principal Travis Schultz.
As COVID-19 spreads into the community, Mr Schultz said, employers will have a duty to report any cases to the appropriate health authorities to help manage and prevent the virus.
There are procedures businesses need to undertake to help the health authorities do their job, he noted, but employers need to be mindful about just how much information is given to team members or the community.
“Only personal data that is reasonably necessary to be collected in order to manage the risk of COVID-19 should be collected or shared – which means giving out the name of the person infected to the rest of the team might not be necessary,” Mr Schultz said.
“Most information shared will be on a need-to-know-basis so potentially only the team members who have been in contact with the person need to know the worker’s name, whereas staff in the other departments might not.
“The circumstances surrounding how the person has become infected might not need to be disclosed – for example the worker may have gone on a Tinder date so there would usually be no reason to disclose the circumstances widely.”
If firms haven’t done so already, Mr Schultz added, they must develop an issues management plan for, “mapping out the various scenarios that may happen including the steps you need to take should someone in your team contract the virus”.
“Make sure you have the next of kin details up-to-date, know who you need to communicate with, when and what you need to say, while respecting the privacy of your team members at the same time,” he said.
There will be many changes for employers over the coming months, he mused, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealing nearly half of businesses in Australia have made changes to their workforce arrangements because of COVID-19.
Because of those changes, Mr Schultz concluded, there are a few other key issues businesses that will need to be keep in mind.
“Workers might be in a position to lodge a WorkCover claim if their employment was a significant contributing factor to contracting COVID-19,” he said.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
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