New England Biz Law Update
The EEOC has released a new fact sheet focused on the use of wearable technologies in the workplace. The fact sheet, entitled “Wearables in the Workplace: The Use of Wearables and Other Monitoring Technology Under Federal Employment Discrimination Laws,” alerts employers that employment discrimination laws apply to collecting and using of information from these devices.
The fact sheet also addresses the need for employers to provide reasonable accommodations related to wearables.
These technologies, which come in the form of rings, watches, glasses, and helmets, can be used to track various physical factors, such as an employee’s location, heart rate, electrical brain activity, or fatigue.
Furthermore, employer-mandated wearables, which collect information about a worker’s health and biometric data, may constitute conducting a “medical examination” as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), according to the EEOC.
If the wearables require employees to provide health information (including in the setting up of the device), the employer may be making “disability-related inquiries,” the agency said. The ADA limits the use of medical examinations or disability-related inquiries by employers and requires employers to safeguard medical records.
“With the increasing availability of wearable technologies, some employers may be considering implementing them in their workplaces. It’s important that employers keep in mind that some uses of wearables can violate federal antidiscrimination laws,” said EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows. “If they do choose to bring this technology into the workplace, employers must be vigilant in following the law to ensure that they do not create a new form of discrimination. There is no high-tech exemption to the nation’s civil rights laws.”
In addition, an employer’s improper use of information that wearables collect may raise concerns under other federal anti-discrimination laws, the EEOC said.
Employers should be careful about using data collected by wearable devices to determine sex, age, genetic information, disability, or race to take an adverse action against an employee. The new resource offers examples of what to avoid.
The document also makes clear that employers using wearables may need to provide reasonable accommodations for workers under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act or provide religious or disability accommodations.
