Employer-employee boundaries | Daily #133

There has been a document leaked whereby Apple has rights and access to their employee's health data. Then it is also suggested that Apple themselves can review their employee's leave requests using their health data.

Information that this consists of is medical conditions, medical care, history, condition, diagnosis, treatment, and any diagnosed physical- or mental limitations.

Let’s just begin with that this is ridiculous.

An employee should never sign anything, and I mean ANYTHING that comprises their private time and life. You can sign things that are work-related.

Office times. Yes, understandable.

IP for your work during office times. Yes, understandable.

Non-compete clause. Yes, understandable. (For a certain period)

But when anything is private life-related that you need to comprise on, NEVER sign it.

Companies own your work, but never your life.

Employee's health is a private matter. That’s why doctors and GPs have an ethical, moral, and even in some countries a lawful obligation to keep their information private. When you sign away that information towards your employer, it is shared.

Once information is shared, it can be used to your advantage or against you.

Maybe I’m cynical, but employers should only care to get the best out of you. Why? Cause the best out of you makes them the most money. This means that if they have your health data, they can influence your work- and private life. Some examples are:

- They know you are healthy, which means less likely to burnout, which you can put in more work.

- They know you are likely to burn out, they will fire/remove you before dealing with it and hire another employee.

- They know you are becoming lazy and fat, they force you to go to the gym in your private time.

Of course, some will say it’s for your own benefit like the last one. The employer will spin it into something positive like to become the best version of yourself or achieving an amazing goal together. But why put yourself in a position where your employer forces you to do something outside of work time? Why is the employer deciding this in the first why?

We all know why, cause when you are the best version of yourself, you create the best work. It’s all to make as much profit as possible by exploiting talented employees. (Which employers and companies should do, cause they need profit to survive.)

While yes it is always good to become the best version yourself, it should never come from your employer. It should come from you alone. You decide what you want. Never the employer.

When you have someone else decide things for you, you are a slave. Especially in your private time.

If let this genie out of the bottle, you won’t be able to get it back. It starts with your private health data, then it is your private agenda, then it is your private family data, then it is your private time allocation, then it is your private life.

Then your whole daily life is dictated by your employer. The real owner of your life. Not you.

Never accept those terms. Decide your boundaries, but never give up your sovereign life.