162 Confidentiality

In accordance with the Rehabilitation Act, the Privacy Act, and Postal Service policy, employees’ medical records are to be treated as confidential information (see Management Instruction EL-860-1998-2, Employee Medical Records). The Privacy Act and the Rehabilitation Act specifically prohibit disclosing medical information except in certain limited situations. For example, when specific information is needed to provide a requested accommodation, responsible officials may give or receive access to the records needed to make that determination.

However, except for managers and supervisors with a legitimate need to know, the law generally prohibits an employer from disclosing that an employee is receiving a reasonable accommodation because that usually amounts to a disclosure that the individual has a disability. (See section 67 for more information.)