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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that my manager shouldn't be telling my colleagues this?

155 replies

gthyjuyhtrew · 25/03/2022 15:28

I tested positive for COVID so couldn't go into the office for a meeting. I messaged my manager to let her know. I didn't tell anyone else the specific reason, I just said I was unwell.

A colleague then brought up that I had had COVID. The only way they would have known is if my manager had told him.

I don't really care and it was never a secret. I'm quite new to the company too for context. I guess it's just made me second guess what I can tell my manager.

(Also I hadn't been to the office for 2+ weeks when I tested positive so it's not like my colleagues needed to know they had been in contact with me)

OP posts:
NewPapaGuinea · 25/03/2022 17:05

I actually though the poster who originally said GDPR breach was joking 😆

drpet49 · 25/03/2022 17:05

@Poppiesway1 saying "she's off sick" or "she's off with covid" is fairly standard. I'd understand if it was a sensitive reason that she was off but I don't see the issue here.

^This

rainyskylight · 25/03/2022 17:06

It's unreasonable of you not to have wanted your close colleagues at work to be aware.

butterpuffed · 25/03/2022 17:07

During the height of the pandemic , shouldn't people who all worked together not have been told if a colleague had covid then ? Ridiculous.

balalake · 25/03/2022 17:11

I have always been told if one of my team has tested positive for Covid 19, or even if they are self-isolating because of a family member.

Your manager should have said that she would notify the team. It would not be unreasonable to assume that although you had not been in the office for over two weeks, you could have met one or more of them elsewhere.

I hope you are well soon.

Myonlysunshine123 · 25/03/2022 17:13

We literally have a covid group at work and are very open with it, we post our positive tests when needed. Its not friggin herpes and nothing to be ashamed of, everyone will have it sooner or later

Myonlysunshine123 · 25/03/2022 17:13

WhatsApp group I mean

MyBottleOfRibena · 25/03/2022 17:18

@girlmom21

So you think it is ok then? Just because it might not be written down? It’s still personal information regardless of it being written down.

So if I called my manager and said I’d had a miscarriage, it would be ok for her to tell everyone that as long as it wasn’t written down?

youdoyoutoday · 25/03/2022 17:19

Massive over reaction.

Saying you have covid these days is like saying you have a cold.
If your manager had shared that you'd had a miscarriage or just been diagnosed with cancer, I'd understand your complaint but just saying you have covid..... drama llama

YvanEhtNiojYvanEhtNioj · 25/03/2022 17:20

Are you worried people are judging you for having covid?
It's not like he told everyone you had a STI.

boatyardblues · 25/03/2022 17:22

[quote Poppiesway1]@girlmom21 If OP did not want her medical issues shared that is up to her. This is a breach of confidentiality maybe not GDPR but still a breach.
We’ve recently had an issue where staff ring in to a sick line and leave a message as to why they were off.. the secretary who was accessing this was telling others why staff were off. A staff member complained and the a new system is in place. Unless the staff member themselves told someone then it is not up to the manager to be telling people no matter how trivial to others it may be.[/quote]
The flip side is that if everyone is laissez faire about minor illnesses or more easily disclosed conditions, when it’s something serious like cancer or more private like pregnancy-related absence or MH then the office gossips and ghouls get more curious and/or start to speculate.

boatyardblues · 25/03/2022 17:23

In that if no one is talking about it or clams up, there’s more curiosity.

Cocomarine · 25/03/2022 17:26

Oh Lord, the people who think they’re experts on GDPR 🤣

Sally872 · 25/03/2022 17:29

Technically maybe your manager should not have said but very common in a close team for a common illness

Also if working but not there in person most people would assume covid.

rwalker · 25/03/2022 17:32

I'd be pissed off and taking it further if something like a private medical matter had been told but not covid wouldn't bother me at all .

worriedaboutmoney2022 · 25/03/2022 17:34

Why is everyone so hung up whether people have Covid or not? If one of us gets it we put it in the group chat

People are bloody weird and precious

AteAllTheBourbons · 25/03/2022 17:35

My manager was actually sacked for a GDPR breach for mentioning that John had popped to the loo and would be back in a minute. She was supposed to say "he's temporarily unavailable but I'm unable to share why". We've all done training on it now.Grin

Doggirl · 25/03/2022 17:36

I suppose there are a couple of problems with managers routinely sharing details of someone's 'non-embarrassing' health condition (leaving Covid aside for the moment):

  1. If they're generally free with the news that Fred has got a cold and Cathy goes for physio on her hip once a week, colleagues will take radio silence on someone's absence as meaning that they must have something embarrassing wrong with them.
  1. IME managers aren't always that great at recognising when something either shouldn't be shared generally, or shouldn't be shared with particular people. My current boss justifies talking about one colleague's many problems with "But Carl himself is quite open about it." Yes, but that's not the same as him talking about Carl without him present.

Covid's different because it does have the scope of affecting others in the office or who meet you outside it. Had OP been in Timbuktu for a month before testing positive though, there would have been no reason to share the fact with anyone at work.

(I was once in an awkward cloak and dagger situation. Chatting to a new colleague about our family situations, he shyly admitted he and his wife were TTC. A few weeks later I got what was probably chicken pox. Rang in sick, but also concerned in case new colleague had caught it and spread it to a potentially pregnant wife. I briefed the boss and asked him to discreetly ask after new bloke's wife's state of pregnancy without letting on that we were having this conversation, as I didn't want new bloke to feel like I'd been gossiping about his private life.)

Doggirl · 25/03/2022 17:38

The flip side is that if everyone is laissez faire about minor illnesses or more easily disclosed conditions, when it’s something serious like cancer or more private like pregnancy-related absence or MH then the office gossips and ghouls get more curious and/or start to speculate.

You've put what I was trying to say far more eloquently.

KimikosNightmare · 25/03/2022 17:40

@gthyjuyhtrew

I tested positive for COVID so couldn't go into the office for a meeting. I messaged my manager to let her know. I didn't tell anyone else the specific reason, I just said I was unwell.

A colleague then brought up that I had had COVID. The only way they would have known is if my manager had told him.

I don't really care and it was never a secret. I'm quite new to the company too for context. I guess it's just made me second guess what I can tell my manager.

(Also I hadn't been to the office for 2+ weeks when I tested positive so it's not like my colleagues needed to know they had been in contact with me)

My firm tells everyone. It's so the staff who are in the office and have possibly had contact know and can make decisions about wfh/ testing
Octomore · 25/03/2022 17:45

@AteAllTheBourbons

My manager was actually sacked for a GDPR breach for mentioning that John had popped to the loo and would be back in a minute. She was supposed to say "he's temporarily unavailable but I'm unable to share why". We've all done training on it now.Grin
This has clearly got to be a joke or a wind-up. Because it's nonsense.
fuzzywuzzywombat · 25/03/2022 17:49

Personal information, should not be shared at all. Get in touch with your union to check the legality. This is quite a serious breach

RoundGlass · 25/03/2022 17:49

To keep our workers and our clients safe we all need.to know when someone has Covid. It's openly shared on our WhatsApp group (by me or the person with covid). I usually phone all the staff to discuss if they need to stay off or not. A risk assessment is completed each time someone has Covid. It affects others.

All other information is private - I'd never share (although they/we always share as a team) - I wouldn't even share who is vaccinated.

This has given me something to think about though.

gettingolderandgrumpy · 25/03/2022 17:51

Op I’m confused you say you really don’t care it was never a secret but you’ve started a thread on the subject so you must care .
The reason you have put that your worried what you can tell your boss , give over if it was some sort of embarrassing problem I can see your point but saying such & such is off with covid is hardly gossip , Come on now it’s no big deal is it .

gettingolderandgrumpy · 25/03/2022 17:52

@AteAllTheBourbons

My manager was actually sacked for a GDPR breach for mentioning that John had popped to the loo and would be back in a minute. She was supposed to say "he's temporarily unavailable but I'm unable to share why". We've all done training on it now.Grin
Give over !!
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