Any HR/confidentiality agreements experts - help!

[ApricotSunrise]

Hi all

Name changed for this because I’ve posted a lot about the industry I work in so it might be quite identifying.

My colleague recently took part in an interview for an internal candidate for a position much higher than he (the colleague) is in. The idea was that they wanted people from all parts of the organisation to have a say in what will be their new top boss. They were allowed to ask questions. One of the questions he asked related specifically to our department and the response the interviewer gave was it one that is not favourable to us AT ALL. So he’s come away and told another colleague what was said in the interview and that person has gone on to tell everyone in the department so naturally we are all very pissed off with what was said and it’s something we will be questioning with our management straight away due to the potential affects it will have on us.

However, the colleague who took part in the interviewing had signed a confidentiality agreement to not discuss anything related to the interview. Because questions have been asked by the staff here our managers have reported the breach to HR.

Clearly he was very silly to open his mouth in the first place and it is surely gross misconduct?

Our organisation doesn’t have a habit of sacking people very easily which they have on their side but how seriously would a breach like this be treated?

Did he think the confidentiality agreement related only to the candidate's information? Why did he not speak to the person who was negative about the department?

Whether it was something outrageous and wrong or something you perhaps didn't know is also important because it's possible the person could be in trouble themselves. It would have been better if he had spoken to HR or his manager.

He wouldn’t be able to speak to the person who was negative about the department as they are much higher placed than he is and off limits for direct contact because their is a chain of command that has to be followed, we can’t just approach people who are that high up the chain as such. I realise that sounds a bit old fashioned but the industry requires it. It’s not armed forces but along those lines.

The person he did speak to was his manager who then blabbed it 🙄. To be honest we were sort of aware of his (the interviewees) views on the subject anyway but he confirmed it during the interview. Whilst the interviewees ideas on our department are not illegal or immoral as such, they would cause the staff a great deal of issues (for many reasons). It’s all very worrying for us and I’m now worried about my (admittedly silly!) colleague for how he will be dealt with.

Well he signed and then blatantly breached a confidentiality agreement, so this could definitely be treated as misconduct and possibly gross misconduct. How the employer deals with it will depend on how lenient they are inclined to be I think.

Can you share any detail of the thing that the interviewee said? And what your friends reasons were for sharing the info? My thinking is that if he said something really immoral/illegal then your friend could argue that sharing his concerns was in the best interest of a larger group and therefore a whistleblow.

The manager will be in hotter water I imagine. What an idiot.

Oh sorry just read your last post properly where you said that what he said wasn’t illegal or immoral. I don’t understand your friends reasons for sharing the info then, was he just gossiping?

@WeAreTheHeroes

The manager will be in hotter water I imagine. What an idiot.

No he won’t, he didn’t sign a ca.

Sorry I should also add yes this would be grounds for dismissal.

He shared it because what was said related to relocation which although not a great distance, would mean some people would be forced to leave what is normally a lifelong career because it would cause staff many issues and we have fought against this happening for a long time because there are simply no positives (other than a very slight financial one to the employer) for relocating us, only negatives. The current top boss has always resisted it but the potential (and most likely) replacement seems hell bent on it happening and that’s mainly because he simply doesn’t really understand our role (which is a very significant one, our organisation cannot run without our department).

I agree, the manager will likely also be in hot water.

I know my colleague was very silly and he should really have thought before confiding in his manager (who also has a long history of being a blabbermouth so he should have known better) but the colleague is young and inexperienced and they didn’t do it with malicious intent.

In addition I have suggested they join a Union for representation but I’m really not sure how they could help if they have blatantly breached a confidentiality agreement.

Thank you all for your answers so far by the way.

The manager has not done anything that would amount to gross misconduct, he’s perfectly entitled to discuss relocation, however he should have known better, so other than poor judgement it’s not a dismissible offence.

The young colleague however needs to read the terms of the ca he agreed to. Normally they contain the consequences of a breach.

He could now argue he didn’t take legal advice so didn’t understand what he was signing. However he needs to read the contract he signed to see if it states what consequences a breach has.

Oh, I see, so the interviewee said something along the lines that if they get the job they would like to relocate your department.

Yeah, your friend had no right to share that info. It was just something said at interview so not even certain that it will happen so he’s potentially now just worried a lot of people and destabilised a whole department for no reason.

The senior manager probably shouldn’t have shared his thinking on it though, it’s a lot of pressure to put on someone junior to know that a massive change might be coming and he can’t talk to anyone about it.

If I was your friend I would use that as my defence, it’s probably the only card he has to play, just say that the info given at interview made him really stressed and worried about what was going to happen and he felt like he needed to confide in his manager about his concerns.

@Bluntness100 @TheMotherlode

Thank you, your comments are very helpful, I will pass those bits of advice on. :)