If you've been out of work because of a health condition, when you return to work, you may have a right to privacy about your health condition which limits what your employer can ask.

However, even under the protecting law [the Americans With Disabilities Act and similar laws (ADA)] the right to privacy is not absolute.

Even if you're not protected by the, assume for practical purposes you are.

As part of the balance underlying the law, an employer is entitled to ask about facts that impact your ability to do the job, or that affect your safety or the safety of others. An employer is not permitted to ask about the underlying health condition.

An employer may require that you provide documentation or have a medical exam before allowing you to to return to work ifthe employer has a reasonable belief that you may be unable to perform your job or may pose a direct threat to yourself or others.

An employer may only obtain the information needed to make an assessment of your presentability to perform your job and to do so safely. An employer may not ask about your underlying condition or what could happen in the future.

Example: Sandra,newspaper reporter, who has been on leave for eight months receiving experimental treatment for non-aggressive lung cancer, notifies her employer that she will be able to return to work in two weeks but will need to continue her treatment for four more months. Because the reporter's job frequently requires her to travel nationally and internationally on short notice, the employer may ask her to provide a doctor's note or other documentation indicating whether she can travel during the next four months and, if so, how long she can be away.The employer can't ask about her projected life expectancy.