HR shared my personal details with a colleague

[bryl]

Hi,

I've been notified that I have to attend a stage one absence review at work. I am not too worried about this because the trigger threshold is extremely low (7 days in 12 months) and my line manager has no concerns about my performance or absence. It seems to be just HR policy.

My issue is that the member of HR dealing with this initially communicated with one of my colleagues about the review instead of my line manager. She sent an email, including dates and recorded reasons for absence, to this colleague, advising him that I had triggered a formal review and outlining the process for setting one up. This colleague is a member of my team but is not and has never been my line manager. We are on the same level and have the same job title, reporting in to the same line manager. There is no reason other than ignorance of reporting lines (and failure to check their own records) for her to assume that I report to this colleague.

I try to be generous when people make genuine mistakes, but this seems to me to be really quite negligent. Fortunately, my absences were just down to coughs and colds, not to anything sensitive or confidential, but I now have no confidence that HR will protect sensitive information, should they hold any.
I only saw the original email recently but it was sent several weeks ago and I have received no apology, explanation from HR, nor any assurance that they will not repeat this error. In fact, I only know about their error because my line manager mentioned it and subsequently forwarded the email. In the email, the HR person acknowledges that she sent the first email to the wrong person but brushes it off as an 'oops, bad day' moment. I think it's a bit more serious than that.

Any advice on the best way of dealing with this?

[sean5302]

Re: HR shared my personal details with a colleague

Hello and welcome to the Forum.
Yes, it's a disgrace that the HR lady has made this mistake.
If you have 2 years' service and don't mind making yourself unpopular, you could invoke the company grievance procedure.
As you say, this incident has damaged your confidence in HR's handling. If they did it to you, how many others have there been?
The absence policy trigger will not be a function of the reasons for your absence. It's merely the fact that they have occurred. It's a formal procedure, highlighting to you that your absence level is unacceptable and you need to take action to improve.
Your grievance is a separate matter, which I would take action about.
Is there a senior HR person you could complain to, without necessarily invoking the grievance procedure?

[bryl]

Re: HR shared my personal details with a colleague

Hi sean5302. Thanks for the reply. I'll have a look at the grievance procedure but I'd like to resolve it less formally if I can. I'll speak to my union rep in the week as well and get his take on it. I don't really want to go down the grievance route, but I don't want it brushed off as unimportant either. Perhaps having a word with the Head of HR is the way to go.

[sean5302]

Re: HR shared my personal details with a colleague

You're very welcome.
Since your line manager knows about this, I'm surprised that they haven't raised it with HR for you.
No point in making unnecessary enemies but it's very poor. HR have a duty of care and this may not be the only mistake there, so you really should escalate it. You could make a joke about this upsetting you so much you were tempted to go off sick.
Maybe not.
:tinysmile_twink_t2:

[teaboy2]

Re: HR shared my personal details with a colleague

Am surprised they even included your reason for absence, as that is private medical or health related information and shouldn't even be disclosed to your line manager. Merely a reason and record of absence, days and whether authorised or unauthorised (without stating reason for absence) is all that should be given to the line manager when asking them to inform you etc.

[sean5302]

Re: HR shared my personal details with a colleague

I have to disagree with you, teaboy2.
It's necessary to investigate people's reasons for absence, normally caused by 3 factors:
They are sick.
They feel unable to come to work because of family or caring responsibilities.
They are on authorised leave such as holiday, maternity leave or a training course.

There should be a return to work interview, by the line manager, to ensure there are no underlying issues.

In most organisations, discussions will be informal and brief and include questions like 'how do you feel about being back at work?' They are normally intended to welcome an employee back and check that they are well enough to be working, find out why they were away and let them know any news.


If an employee has been absent from work often, employers may also wish to find out if there are any underlying problems causing this, for instance if the sickness is work-related or if they are having any problems at work or home.

I certainly don't subscribe to line managers being left "out of the loop". I pay mine to manage and that is what I expect.