The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has released new guidance aimed at providing employers with clarity on sharing their workers’ personal information during mental health emergencies. 

The ICO’s head of regulatory strategy, Chris Hogan, emphasised the importance of employers sharing necessary and proportionate information promptly with emergency services or health professionals. 

“We want to reassure employers that during a mental health emergency they should share necessary and proportionate information without delay with relevant and appropriate emergency services or health professionals,” said Hogan. 

He also stressed the value of pre-planning to facilitate well-informed decision making and highlighted the guidance’s inclusion of practical case studies to illustrate legal applications. 

This includes asking employers to focus on sharing information with only appropriate individuals to safeguard the individual at risk or other players from potential harm. 

“It is a good idea to plan ahead, as this will help you to make well informed decisions if you need to. Our guidance will help you do that and includes useful case studies to illustrate how the law can work in practice.”

It assures employers that they will not face repercussions for sharing relevant and proportionate information with emergency services, health professionals, or a worker’s next of kin or emergency contact. 

The guidance, however, also points out the importance of exercising discretion regarding the extent of information shared with these contacts based on the specific circumstances and the nature of their relationship with the worker. 

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Instead, the advice is to assess each situation individually, sharing only what is deemed necessary and proportionate while considering potential legal constraints beyond data protection law. 

The ICO’s guidance forms part of its broader effort to assist employers in managing personal information in accordance with data protection regulations.