The new regulations issued by the EEOC under the Genetic
Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) became effective
on January 10, 2011. The regulations make clear that the law
protects applicants, current and former employees, trainees, and
apprentices. The EEOC has already received hundreds of charges
alleging violations of GINA. Employers must now post new
information and take other steps to comply, including the use of
"safe harbor" language when requesting health-related
information from an employee or healthcare provider.
"But We Don't Collect Genetic Information, So Who
Cares?"
Many employers mistakenly believe that they will not likely be
affected by the new law to any great extent. But the broadly
written regulations point out that due to the "many
achievements in the field of genetics, the decoding of the human
genome and the creation and increased use of genomic medicine"
there is great potential for discrimination and misuse of
