Question: I have been a software developer in a large organization for more than a decade. I have ADHD and see a psychiatrist every 3 weeks. Boss is now demanding access to all my health records or said he will fire me. He has also locked my Active Directory account (he says temporary) and deactivated my building pass until I sign the document for HR to obtain all my medical records.

I have till Monday (less than a week) to sign the document.

I am located in Australia.

Should I sign the document so my employer has access to all my medical records and all the psychiatrist's notes on me?

TL;DR ADHD Software Developer. Employer demands access to all information in my medical records.

[![Demand from my boss for all my medical records](https://i.stack.imgur.com/BLqPi.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/BLqPi.png)

Answer: 
**Go A Lawyer ASAP.**

> 
> I have been a software developer in a large organization for more than a decade.
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Then presumably you have at least an acceptable track record with them as you'd have been let go a long time back if not.

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> I have ADHD and see’s a psychiatrist every 3 weeks.
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Your medical condition is no-one's business unless it directly impacts your ability to work or requires special conditions to work in.

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> Boss is now demanding access to all my health records or said he will fire me.
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> 
> 

Your medical record are not their business unless they can show your a cause for needing such records.

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> He has also locked my Active Directory account (he says temporary) and deactivated my building pass until I sign the document for HR to obtain all my medical records.
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> 
> 

That, in my jurisdiction, would be blatant constructive dismissal.

They are preventing you from working. Make sure you continue to report for work and make a record of everytime you are refused access. Email HR everytime they refuse you access to work and ask them to justify this. No phone calls.

> 
> I have till Monday (less than a week) to sign the document.
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> 
> 

Talk to a lawyer and ideally one engaged in employment law.

If they fire you it would, frankly, be no bad thing as they are clearly awful employers. As you've been there ten years it suggests a change in management up the line and not for the best.

If you are fired you still have legal recourse.

> 
> I am located in Australia.
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> 

There are typically independent agencies that offer basic legal advce to people on their rights and are often free. Look for these.

> 
> Should I sign the document so my employer has access to all my medical records and all the psychiatrist's notes on me?
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> 
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No without your own solicitor's legal advice to do so.

Note that the document does not explicitly request the psychiatrist's notes.

I cannot say never as I don't know the detail of Australian employement law, but I can think of no jurisdiction where detailed notes of a psychiatrist are going to be legitimately made available to a company. They're probably the single most private form of record available. Even the police would have difficulty obtaining such notes in an investigation. In some jurisdictions this would require a court order to obtain and would be extremely hard to get. They're trying to get you to volunteer this info which is extremely devious IMO.

Legal advice - now.

I would suggest emailing the head of HR directly stating flatly that you will need to seek independant legal advice before proceeding. I would suggest indicating your are astonished that such private material could be demanded and that at present it is your employer who is preventing you from working and not in any way your choice.

Regardless of what their reply get that legal advice.

Keep records of communications and decline *any* verbal communication as they are easily denied afterward. Emails only.

Lawyer. Now.
**DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING AT ALL UNLESS YOU HAVE REVIEWED IT WITH A LAWYER.**

I'm typically not a fan of "talk to a lawyer" but this is highly irregular and something bad is going on.

Things to do

1. Start looking for a local employment lawyer. Yes, it may cost you some money, but in this case you need legal protection.
2. Collect all documents and e-mails that are related to this and that you have still access to: performance reviews, time-off sheets, company policies, any type of warnings, your original and current contracts, recent pay slips, etc.
3. Prepare yourself for what happens on Monday. You may get fired, they may put disciplinary actions on you, they will put documents in front of you to sign. **NO MATTER HOW HARMLESS THEY LOOK, DO NOT SIGN THEM.** Nothing at all.
4. Practice in front of a mirror "Sorry, I cannot sign any document before I have reviewed it with my lawyer". Repeat over and over again as needed.
5. They will probably try to pressure you with different types of approaches. You just have to sit it out. Do not sign anything, do not agree to anything, do not comment on anything, don't answer questions but evade them. Just sit and listen and say as little as possible. If they get aggressive use the line "I'm sorry you feel this way".

If you are lucky, this will get them to back off. I'm guessing their plan is to pressure you into whatever it is they want. By not replying, refusing to agree to or sign anything and mentioning lawyer (a lot), they will see that this doesn't work. Since there is a good chance that they are trying to do something that's not fully legal, they really don't want you to talk to a lawyer, so you may gain some leverage here.