Employee perspectives on genetic testing in the workplace: Results from a national survey.

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.