You are an HIM Coordinator and work in a department that has a temporary contracted HIM Director, whose name is Lolly. She is working with Human Resources to fill all vacant positions in the departmen

Module 11 Rubric & Lesson Content

Module 11

Scoring Rubric: Module 11 Written Assignment - EEOC Protections for Job Applicants

Employment Laws

Ask any manager what is the most valuable resource they are responsible for and the answer will nearly always be - the employee- the human resource. The quality of healthcare and in some cases the very balance of life and death of our healthcare organization's patients are dependent upon the quality of our personnel. Human resources are protected in the workplace by employment laws that should equally protect the employee and the employer, even though at times they may seem to be at odds with each other.

The laws and regulations that affect employees and employers in most cases, provide a useful, just path through what may initially appear to be an insoluble conflict. In some instances, however, that path may not yet be fully developed, or it may involve a particularly difficult situation in which the law must be applied. The employer, physician, and allied health staff work under the federal and state regulations.

In addition, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, and several additional acts from 1967 through the present impact workplace laws and ethics. Understanding employment law and how legal expectations sometimes produce workplace conflicts, and how the law also works to provide a route through those conflicts is key to achieving the goals of the organization while still protecting the employer and employees right.

Employees depend on jobs for several reasons based on the nature of their needs outside the workplace, from medical insurance coverage to savings benefits. Therefore, it is important that everyone working in the healthcare field be educated about regulations affecting employment practices, such as health, safety, workers' compensation, unions, and discrimination in the workplace.

As an HIM professional in a management position it is important to have an understanding of the laws which regulate the workplace and the ability to analyze how those laws apply in specific situations. Even though you may be the manager you will not be alone in this undertaking, most healthcare organizations will have a Human Resources Department, which is made up of human resource specialists who provide the oversight that labor practices are properly aligned with labor laws within the organization. These specialists will be available to you as a manager and as an employee to assist with any workplace situations which are regulated by labor laws. Some of the more familiar laws are those dealing with discrimination, such as the Civil Rights Act, which are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and prohibit discrimination against by job applicants and employees on the basis of age, disability, equal pay compensation, genetic information, national origin, pregnancy, race/color, religion, retaliation, sex and sexual harassment. Other laws, generally called "Labor laws" relate to wages and overtime, compensations and benefits, unions and employee safety.

The following PowerPoint presentation will guide your note taking as you explore the key concepts related to Workplace Law.

Fundamentals of Laws for HI and IM, Chapter 17

Additional Resources

Employment Law Guide: Laws, Regulations, and Technical Assistance Services

Professional Ethical Issues and Bioethical Issues

Bioethics is defined as the discipline dealing with the ethical implications of biological research and applications especially in medicine by the Merriam-Webster dictionary. In the HIM field we rarely have contact with patients or have to struggle with ethical implications related to patient care and treatment however it is still important as a healthcare professional, as well as a patient or family member to understand the dilemmas faced by healthcare professionals as well as the resources available to those professionals in addressing bioethical issues.

Professionally we need to be aware health record issues relating to access, use and disclosure of information which may impact decisions relating to bioethics. The documentation of and access to Advance Directives or and informed consent documentation for clinical trials may be two examples of the HIM professionals role in bioethical issues.

The National Institute of Health provides a resource called, "Welcome to the NIH's Bioethics Resources on the Web!" which does not constitute legal advice on the laws, regulations, or guidelines of any jurisdiction, but rather provides, guidelines, case studies, articles and teaching materials. The site is maintained by the Office of Science Policy, Office of Biotechnology Activities, NIH. There are topics which included such as privacy, confidentiality, disclosure, human and animal research and Institutional Review Board resources, all of which are of interest to the HIM professional.