I'm joking.  But apparently Delphi wasn't....

I'm fortunate these days not to be a HR pro in an environment where compliance with attendance policies, etc. is a big issue.  But if you support a manufacturing group or a call center, dealing with attendance outliers is BIG business.  Honk twice if you've worked in a call center or plant that had a "points-based" attendance policy!  You know the type of policy I'm talking about, the one where being tardy is worth 1/4 of a point, a full day unexcused is 1 point, blah, blah, blah.  If that's you, I feel your pain...

Looking to supplement your stand-alone attendance policy with another show-killer?  How about asking employees returning to work from sick time to sign a release to grant full access to their medical records?   From the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday:

"The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against auto-parts supplier Delphi Corp. for asking employees returning from sick leave to sign a release for the company to access their medical information. One employee says he was fired because he refused to sign the release. The employee says he allowed Delphi to contact his doctor to verify that he missed two days of work for medical reasons, but he would not sign the release that would allow the company to discuss his particular medical condition with his doctor. The lawsuit alleges that Delphi has been violating the federal Americans with Disabilities Act since 2004 by requiring employees to sign the release."

This just in - asking for more access to medical backgrounds is BAD...  Surely this is in a union environment and Delphi muscled up in the last round of bargaining, asking for and receiving what they thought was the "holy grail" of attendance management - access to medical history to confirm reasons for absences.   

I can't imagine anyone with employee experience telling them that was a good idea.  Didn't asking for a doctor's note provide the normal hardcore standard to control fraudulent sick time?  WOW.  I'm still trying to get my head around how I would "sell" the need to have access to that level of medical history with a straight face...