Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9411050002
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STUART SILVERSTEIN LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The national poll of 1,000 employees conducted by Louis Harris and Associates found that 69 percent oppose psychological exams that measure attitudes and social preferences, a form of testing that many employers use with job applicants.
Also widely opposed were tests to gauge how much employees smoke and drink when they are not on the job and exams that some employers use to encourage healthier lifestyles - and thereby hold down medical costs.
At the same time, 61 percent of the employees surveyed say their employers respect their after-hours privacy ``very well.'' Also, drug testing is strongly supported by workers.
``The survey suggests that employees don't want employers telling them what to do when they're not working, particularly when it comes to lifestyle issues,'' said John Tysse, vice president of the Labor Policy Association, a Washington, D.C., group representing major employers.
Tysse called the support for drug testing a ``major exception'' to that pattern, saying employees apparently agree with their bosses that the practice improves safety and productivity.
The objections to employers' privacy practices were most common among low-income and black workers. For instance, only 40 percent of black respondents said their employer respects their off-the-job privacy well, compared with 61 percent for the entire group surveyed.
And among workers from households with annual incomes below $15,000, 25 percent cited concern that their medical claims are seen by supervisors before the documents are submitted to the company's insurer, contrasted with 16 percent of all respondents.
``Millions of workers fear that employers are now collecting and using health and lifestyle information improperly,'' said Alan F. Westin, a Columbia University privacy specialist who worked on the survey.
Robert Ellis Smith, a lawyer who publishes the newsletter Privacy Journal, said the survey results show the need for laws to assure the confidentiality of medical records as part of any national health care reform package. One proposal, the Privacy for Consumers and Workers Act, is being considered in Congress, but it focuses mainly on the use of electronic surveillance.
But the types of employer snooping raised in the Harris survey continue to raise concerns.
In recent years many employers - worried about issues ranging from workplace violence to workers compensation fraud - have used psychological tests to screen job applicants.
But opponents of the tests contend they are unreliable and often unnecessarily intrusive. Last year, Target Stores, the discount chain operated by Dayton Hudson Corp. of Minneapolis, paid more than $2 million to settle a lawsuit by a job applicant who objected to exam questions on sexual interests and religious beliefs. In the Harris survey, 69 percent expressed opposition to psychological testing.
The survey was commissioned by the Educational Film Center of Annandale, Va., which said the survey's margin for error is plus or minus three percentage points.
by CNB