§2000ff–1 Employer Practices

Summary

Employers must not use a person’s genetic information to make job decisions. They cannot refuse to hire, fire, pay less, change job terms, or treat someone worse because of their genetic information. Employers also must not sort, separate, or classify workers in ways that hurt job chances because of genetic information. Employers generally may not ask for, require, or buy genetic data about an employee or their family. There are limited exceptions: accidental requests for family medical history; when the employer offers health or genetic services and the employee gives prior, knowing, voluntary, written permission, with individual results only seen by the employee (or the family member getting the service) and the health professional or board‑certified genetic counselor, and the employer gets only anonymous, aggregate data for those services; when family medical history is needed to comply with family and medical leave rules (including section 2613 of title 29); when buying publicly available materials (like newspapers, magazines, and books but not medical databases or court records); for genetic monitoring of workplace toxins if the employer gives written notice, gets prior written consent (or the monitoring is required by law), tells employees their individual results, follows federal or state genetic monitoring rules (including ones under OSHA, mine safety, or atomic energy laws), and receives only aggregate results; and when a forensic or human‑remains lab uses employee DNA only for quality‑control checks on identification markers. Information obtained under these exceptions still cannot be used to discriminate or disclosed in ways that violate section 2000ff–5.