Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2025
Original Citation
Roberts J,
Uhlmann W,
Blasco D,
Prince A,
McCain S,
Pal S,
Sanghavi K,
Charnysh E,
Lee C.
Employee Perspectives on Genetic Testing in the Workplace: Results from a National Survey. Public Health Genomics. 2025;28(28):278–86.
Keywords
JGM, Humans, Female, Male, Adult, Genetic Testing, Workplace, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Genetic Privacy
JAX Source
Public Health Genomics. 2025;28(28):278–86.
ISSN
1662-8063
PMID
40931502
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1159/000548116
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Genetic testing for health-related purposes is now offered in some workplace wellness programs, with notable ethical, legal, and social implications. However, little is known about employee perspectives on workplace genetic testing (wGT).
METHODS: We surveyed a large, diverse national sample of 2,000 employed adults (mean age = 43 years; 51% female). Survey measures assessed respondents' wGT beliefs, perceptions of employer motivations for offering wGT, and privacy concerns.
RESULTS: Most respondents (57.4%) agreed that wGT would improve employees' health, and 46.7% agreed it could aid recruitment and retention of employees. Many respondents attributed legally prohibited motivations to employers offering wGT, including charging employees higher insurance premiums based on wGT results (28.8% rated as very important to employers). Overall, 37% of respondents were not at all comfortable with their employer collecting their genetic information; in addition, most (83.6%) were somewhat or very concerned their employer would fail to protect the privacy of their genetic information or would share such information without permission (79.2%). Heightened privacy concerns were positively associated with employee characteristics, including age ≥55 years, self-identified Black or Asian race and ethnicity, and family history of common diseases, and inversely associated with prior genetic testing experience and employer trust.
CONCLUSIONS: Employees perceive potential health benefits of wGT but harbor substantial privacy concerns and show limited awareness of legal protections against employer misuse of wGT results. Findings suggest a need for robust employee education and informed consent in wGT, along with safeguarding of sensitive personal genetic information.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License