New Health Test For Employees
An Israeli university is trading in costly employer medical exams for an efficient, non-invasive quiz, and new research from Tel Aviv University brings promising news for people afraid they will not qualify for a job due to health concerns.
Medical exams are not always an accurate predictor of competency or job performance, says Tel Aviv University researcher Dr. Shlomo Moshe, an occupational physician from the Sackler Faculty of Medicine.
Thanks to Moshe’s new research, unnecessary and uncomfortable medical and psychological tests can now be replaced with a pencil and paper. Experts say the different approach can also provide a much more accurate forecast.
“A questionnaire can effectively rule out those who are not fit for white collar and non-hazardous blue collar positions,” Dr. Moshe says, "and with our test, more people are actually found fit for work than those assessed by a medical exam.”
Moshe says the research is excellent news for employers because the potential savings in medical costs are enormous.
The sky rocketing costs of litigation after a rescinded offer are also an obstacle that could be left behind with the paper based test.
Currently, the Americans with Disabilities Act means employers can’t order medical tests for prospective hires until after a job offer has been made. Since the act went into effect, a number of complicated lawsuits have arisen from companies rescinding job offers.
“It’s only natural that an employer wants to be sure he won’t be affected by an employee’s medical problems, and that a disability won’t affect job performance,” says Dr. Moshe. “He wants a certificate of health. Now we can give that without extracting a drop of blood or urine.”
Researchers in the study backed up a surprising claim that 98% of all people who take the questionnaire are correctly deemed suitable for employment.
Occupational experts in America have been asking for a copy of the questionnaire. It was published in the Occupational Medicine journal which reports on Dr. Moshe’s study.
Israeli employers have been using the questionnaire since 2000.
It includes dozens of questions, including: Are you taking medications regularly? Have you ever filed a disability claim? Do you have allergies to any food and medications? Have you ever been injured in an accident?
“Obviously, employers are afraid of lawsuits and poor performance on the job,” Dr. Moshe concludes. “Our test gives everyone in the system job security.”
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