Your medical file and employee data
Your medical and personal data belong to you. But what about access, copies and retention periods? And what if you want your data corrected or deleted? We lay it out clearly and without hassle for you.
Right of access: what are you allowed to view?
As an employee you have the right to receive a copy of your medical file. You also have the right to access all other data about you that is stored at Zorg van de Zaak. This is regulated in the Dutch Civil Code Book 7, article 456 and in article 15 of the GDPR (privacy legislation).
This includes, among other things:
Personal data (name/address/phone, social security number, employer, etc.)
Absence/illness data
Medical records (from the occupational physician or other occupational health professionals)
Health questionnaires and biometric data
Process files of professionals such as case managers or labor experts
Reports on absenteeism and prevention (think of problem analyses or feedback letters)
Old medical records from previous systems (such as d’Arbois, AT5/AMG, Prios, etc.)
How do you request access?
Submit a request to the occupational physician or the Medical Desk. This can be done by phone or in writing.
You will receive an email with an authorization form and an explanation of the procedure.
Fill in the authorization, sign it and send it back together with a copy of your identity document. (Note: we never store your ID!)
Indicate which data you want to view: – Only the medical file – Also process files and correspondence (such as UWV documents, intervention reports, etc.)
Your request will be processed within four weeks (preferably within two weeks).
🚨 Good to know: The occupational physician must screen the file before you receive it.
How do you receive your file?
There are three secure ways to receive your file:
Pick up in person – after identification at the Medical Desk.
Via the occupational physician – who hands the file to you personally.
Secure email – via an encrypted healthcare mail service.
In addition, we can of course also send your medical file by post – registered and in a double envelope marked ‘MEDICAL SECRET’. We prefer not to do this because in the past it has been shown that the envelope does not always arrive safely.
Attention! Your file may never be sent to your employer or case manager, even if you give permission for that yourself.
Change or destroy your file?
Mistake in your file? You may always request corrections if the information is incorrect. The physician will then assess whether he can and may make the change and will report back to you.
Delete the file? That is allowed, unless the data are still needed for your treatment or a legal retention obligation applies.
The statutory retention period for medical records is 20 years. Other employee and absence files fall under the GDPR and must also be managed carefully.
Retention periods within ZekerArbo
ZekerArbo adheres to the statutory retention periods. If there is no statutory retention period, ZekerArbo does not keep data longer than necessary for performing the task.
By law, ZekerArbo is required to retain medical records for 20 years. In special cases this can be 30 to 40 years* from the date of the last change in the file (or longer if a claim or lawsuit is ongoing or as much shorter as the client requests destruction).
By law, ZekerArbo is required to retain financial records for 7 years from the end of the calendar year.
Absence and reintegration data under the Gatekeeper Improvement Act (Wet verbetering Poortwachter) are retained by ZekerArbo for a maximum of 2 years after termination of employment or after the end of the agreement with the client, or longer if a claim or lawsuit is ongoing, or shorter if the data subject requests destruction. Exceptions for longer retention also apply if there is a high likelihood that the employee will have the same absence again or the file contains permanent agreements. If you as a client are self-insured for your own risk, a retention period of 5 years after the end of employment applies. For Work Resumption for Partially Disabled Persons (WGA) files, a retention period of 10 years after the end date of employment applies.
Emails are kept for a maximum of 1 year after receipt.
Camera footage is kept for a maximum of 4 weeks.
Standard log data are not kept longer than necessary. Insofar as the occupational health service ZekerArbo qualifies as a healthcare institution under the Wkkgz, the log data of the medical record are kept for at least 5 years from the writing concerning the log entry.
Do you want to know the retention periods of data that ZekerArbo processes via its websites? You can find that under ‘Information for website visitors’.
*The retention obligation for medical records may deviate from 20 years if there has been exposure to hazardous substances.
More info: see our privacy statement
GDPR and your rights
The GDPR regulates how your personal data are processed. This means, among other things:
You have the right to access and a free copy of your file (except in cases of excessive requests).
Your data may only be processed and stored for a legitimate purpose.
You may take your data to another healthcare provider (data portability).
In short: What should you remember?
You have the right to access all data that is processed about you.
An authorization and ID check are required to request your data.
Processing your request takes a maximum of four weeks.
You can receive your file by picking it up yourself, receiving it via the occupational physician or secure email, or possibly having it sent by post.
Corrections and destruction are possible under certain conditions.
Do you have questions or want to submit a request? Contact the Medical Desk!
Last updated
Was this helpful?