In contrast, participants in Germany were less in favour of the suggestion that employers enquire about and formally record reported symptoms as part of absence data recording. They described the tight legislation around employer-employee relations, where currently it is unlawful for employers to request personal health details. They expressed the need for the protection of employee privacy and confidentiality and thought the risks associated with nosocomial transmission of EIDs were too small to compromise these rights. They were concerned about potential consequences for employment upon discovering an infectious HCW, and about the risk of victimisation, describing the existing controversy for hepatitis and HIV infected HCWs (appendix 4). However, they recognised a need for balancing staff and patient safety with confidentiality and the right to privacy, and identified situations where workers' councils needed to adopt a more proactive rather than reactive approach to identifying and preventing nosocomial transmission. HCWs' views on monitoring absence and symptom reports for surveillance of emerging infections are presented in appendix 4.