Have I dobbed my colleague in wrongly?

[LivingInLeggingsStill]

Hi, I'm looking for advice from some HR bods who might be here. I manage a small team and there are some divisions in it, particularly with 2 team members. Team member A borrowed team member B's laptop. It turns out she didn't log out. Yesterday team member B was slagging off the team to another team member on teams messenger throughout the meeting. After the meeting, team member A came and reported to me what she had seen. When I asked how she came to know it, she admitted that she had left B logged in on her laptop. So it looks like she has been spying on her conversations. It seems she's been logged in for a couple of months. I reported this to my line manager but more to discuss how to help the team be less divided. I naively didn't realise how bad it was that she was logged in and potentially spying for a couple of months. Team member A told me not to tell anyone, but clearly I did and now they want to take it to HR. Have I destroyed someone's career without meaning to? I'm stressing as I didn't mean for that to happen. What do I do?

Where I work B would be deeply in the shit for not logging out, and A would definitely be more in the shit for leaving it logged in for MONTHS(?!) just to spy. That's some next level deviousness.

B would also be in the shit for the slagging off, especially on a work system, as would the recipient of the messages if they joined in.

As the manager you should indeed report all of those issues to HR.

The whole place sounds toxic and hopefully it will be the kick up the arse needed to sort it out.

YANBU for reporting it. YABU to have promised 'not to tell'. This implies you either have 'favorites' or incredibly naivety as to the seriousness of the problem.....but you DID speak up so no one knows you're lacking in management skills (lesson learnt). I'd imagine there will be serious consequences for covert spying maybe dismissal. The other team member will likely get reprimanded for using work time to 'bitch'. If the things she's said make reference to any protected characteristics she too could be facing the sack. Also if she decides to confront A and it gets 'natsy'

This incident aside, l think you need more training!

A sounds awful and deserves to be in trouble.

Sharing security credentials where I work is a breach of Policy and sackable offence.

I'm very surprised that you're the manager - haven't you been trained in IT security?

id be even more worried that your company's IT security protocols are so crap that they have enabled someone to stay logged into a user network account for a couple of weeks without the network forcing log offs / reboots etc to conduct security patching, updates to key software etc. that's waaay more worrying that the end user bitching on MS Teams!

Its gross misconduct

You had to report it

The way I read it there are 3 separate issues that need investigating and subsequently dealing with

1. colleague B using someone else’s laptop and not logging out
2. colleague B using company Teams account to bitch about the whole team to another colleague
3. colleague A knowingly staying logged into a colleagues account for a prolonged period of time and using it as an opportunity to spy on colleague B

HR person here.
I voted that YABU as you have not behaved professionally as a Manager.

• You should be aware of your policies. It security is very serious. You don't understand why this is a massive issue?

• :Dobbed in' Ffs you are a Manager. Your responsibility is to your organisation.

Confidentiality/dont tell. You need management training or at least a chat with HR about this concept.

Sorry I sound harsh. I've had a difficult week due to a couple of major problems having been covered up by managers wanting to be their teams friend rather than manager. It does sound as though maybe you haven't had any formal training - do ask for some.

Nowhere I have worked in the last 10 years would this be possible - IT security must be very lax if you can remain logged into someone else's account without re-entering credentials for months.

There are two issues here.
One, B knowingly keeping A logged in (although work use laptops should have password time outs, but thats irrelevant at the moment). Depending on the work you do, this could be a serious data breech for both of them. However, B is more in the wrong.

Person A was unprofessional and shouldn't be slagging off colleagues, especially on official communications.

Neither look good. If you eavesdrop or similar, you may well hear things about yourself you don't like. If B hadn't kept logged in, they would be none the wiser. Doesn't excuse A, but thats reality.

I canna even leave my laptop for 10 minutes without it automatically logging me oot. How the fuck can you stay logged in for months?

I’m struggling really to understand how this could have happened, surely laptops log themselves of or lock after a length of time.

But anyway on the basis of what you have said, I think Team member A should face disciplinary processes.

My point exactly.

If a has their career destroyed its their own fault caused by their actions

Whether you’re A’s manager or a colleague on the same level, your company will expect you not to ignore security breaches.

Both A and B are at fault here - B for not logging out of the laptop, and A for not doing it for them at the point they first realised B had forgotten.

There are wider implications than just the gossipy messages. For instance, if B has access, as part of their role, to information which A should not.

You were right to report it up the line. HR are not going to ‘tell you off’ for breaching A’s confidence in these circumstances.

How did b stay logged in?

Or, was it automated log in that A has taken advantage of?

It's her own fault. Who spies on a colleague? QUITE CLEARLY SPYING DAILY TO HAVE KNOWN THAT QUICKLY ABOUT THE MESSAGES. She's a crank. She faces losing her job yes.

@LivingInLeggingsStill As others that said. Not your issue that A has been spying. They will have to deal with the consequences of that.

That said, depending on whether B was making critical comments on A or actually being mean / nasty / slagging them off, it could come under workplace bullying which is also a serious issue. B should not be allowed to use company property to make nasty bullying comments about a colleague without ramifications.

Both of them should be disciplined for this.

This is gross misconduct.
I'd be looking to dismiss the pair of them. Appalingyly unprofessional behavior.

Thank you all for the feedback, I know that what A did was wrong, and I don't fully understand how she did it. B used A's laptop a few months ago when they were working away together and logged into her own teams account on it. Somehow A has been able to continue to access B's teams account. While she only raised yesterday's conversation, I don't know how much else she has seen over the months. A is one of the hardest grafters in the team, B is workshy at every opportunity and they both can be pretty difficult in their own ways. I don't want either to lose their jobs/leave but this getting out will inevitably lead to that. It is a very toxic workplace, so this is going to destroy the team now. I cannot possibly see a way where A stays or B would want to if A dies. You're right, I probably do need more training, I like to be reasonably familiar with my team but it's clearly not helped me support the team. What a pickle. Thank you all anyway.