Data Breach

[TopCat1]

Data Breach.
The HR department are trying to reduce my hours and have provided 3 options for doing this. I am told that I have to have a meeting with a line manager to let them know which option I prefer. They sent me a letter marked as "private and confidential" via email which contained details of my salary and copied this to the line manager. Given that the three options refer to reducing my hours to fractions of what I'm currently on I see no reason why the line manager should have been copied into a private and confidential letter - clearly by the HR Team's actions the correspondence is neither private nor confidential. What actions can I take and would this be classed as a "data breach" under the Data Protection Act?

[PallasAthena]

This is not a data breach. The line manager you are having the meeting with needs to know what the company has offered you. The HR department is entitled to share details of your employment conditions with your line manager. The email is presumably intended to be 'Private and Confidential' to the people it was sent to. Your line manager is one of those people.

[TopCat1]

the letter was addressed just to me, not to me and the line manager, it was sent as an email attachment to me and copied in to the line manager. The line manager just needs to know the fractional reductions, not the salary, that is extraneous to the discussions. There was no need to disclose salary to the line manager.

[PallasAthena]

It's irrelavant it was sent to the Line Manager as a CC. It was still sent to her/him. A company is entitled to share information about employees with their line managers. I can only repeat, this is not a breach of the Data Protection Act.

If you want to complain about it the correct procedure is to raise a grievance in line with your company's Grievance Procedures.

[TopCat1]

This is what the Information Commissioner's Office states in the Quick guide to the employment practices code, " In other cases you could breach the Act if you disclose. Only disclose if, in all the circumstances, you are satisfied that it is fair to do so. Bear in mind that fairness to the worker should be your first consideration."

There was no need to disclose salary in this case, it was superfluous to the discussion.

[theberenger]

In any business I've worked in, my line manager was the person responsible for leading performance reviews, yearly appraisals, one-on-ones and so on. It was at these meetings remuneration would be discussed. The manager couldn't have held that discussion if they didn't know what I was being paid to begin with, therefore they have a legitimate interest in that data.

I've never heard of a business, and I've certainly never worked in one, where my direct superiors were prevented from knowing the terms of my employment.

How are things like yearly increase, performance, progression etc handled in your workplace?

[TopCat1]

why would they need to know what you are paid to give you an appraisal rating? They know your grade within the organisation and the pay band, why would they need to know the pounds and pence you earn? Data should be on a need to know basis and in the instance I've referred to there was no need to know. Many employers such as those in the public sector are awarded national pay rises, you've wrongly assumed everyone's workplace is identical to yours.

[PallasAthena]

If you are so sure you know the answer why did you bother asking?

To repeat, if you don't like it raise a grievance.

[Presonus]

"The HR department are trying to reduce my hours "

Are you sure it's not your manager who doesn't need you to do so many hours, and HR just facilitating it?

Just saying as the line managers probably already a significant involvement in the process.

I might be out of touch but I'd expect managers to be well aware of peoples salaries. Mine certainly are.