Wearables in the Workplace: Using Wearable Technologies Under Federal Employment Discrimination Laws reminds employers that employment discrimination laws apply to the use of wearable devices.
The fact sheet cautions that collecting workers’ biometric data could be considered a medical examination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Furthermore, an employer could violate various statutory nondiscrimination requirements by using information from wearables to make employment decisions that adversely affect employees on the basis of a protected characteristic—such as race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information. In addition, an employer may not use wearables to selectively monitor employees based on a protected characteristic or in retaliation for engaging in protected activity.