Protecting Genetic Data - A Primer for Employers
By Jeremy Gruber,
Council for Responsible Genetics Blog
| 07. 02. 2014
Untitled Document
As genetic testing and genetic information become increasingly available, it is critical that employers have a full understanding of current genetic privacy and nondiscrimination protections, to ensure their workplaces are in full compliance with federal and state laws. For example, the U.S. Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) took effect on November 21, 2009, yet many employers still are unfamiliar with its provisions. Many are even less familiar with applicable state genetic privacy laws, despite enhanced enforcement of both federal and state laws.
Federal law:
GINA and employment
Prohibitions
One section of GINA, called Title II, applies equally to employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint labor-management committees that control job training. This section of the law makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to “fail or refuse to hire ... discharge ... or otherwise to discriminate against any employee with respect to the compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment” because of an employee’s genetic information. Generally, a person’s genetic information is defined as information obtained from the individual’s genetic tests, those of the individual’s family...
Related Articles
By Eric Schmidt, TIME | 04.16.2024
Imagine a world where everything from plastics to concrete is produced from biomass. Personalized cell and gene therapies prevent pandemics and treat previously incurable genetic diseases. Meat is lab-grown; enhanced nutrient grains are climate-resistant. This is what the future could...
By Harold Brubaker, The Philadelphia Inquirer | 04.04.2024
Acompany started by University of Pennsylvania scientist Jim Wilson has received FDA approval to test a form of gene editing in infants for the first time in the United States, the company said Thursday.
The Plymouth Meeting company, iECURE, is...
By Carey Gillan, UnSpun | 03.18.2024
A Mexican standoff with the United States turned into a Mexican smack-down this month with the release of Mexico’s formal rebuttal to US efforts to overturn limits Mexico has ordered on the use of genetically modified (GM) corn and the...
By Billy Perrigo, TIME | 03.11.2024
The U.S. government must move “quickly and decisively” to avert substantial national security risks stemming from artificial intelligence (AI) which could, in the worst case, cause an “extinction-level threat to the human species,” says a report commissioned by the U.S...