confidentiality issues urgent advice needed

[buttercrumble]

I have been to my boss today, to mention about a fellow work mates repeated lateness and use of facebook at work. My boss said this is a sackable offence and will be dealt with after speaking to others, im panicking now because my boss said they may have to tell the girl that i had complained, i didnt know how serious this would be and feel like i have opened a can of worms. Im really worried and wish ide never said anything. Dont i have any confidentiality rights.....

I don't think you have any "rights" to confidentiality but that doesn't mean your boss should tell the person that it was you who complained. Whenever I've had to deal with something like this I've always told the person that "it's been brought to my attention" but never who told me... This is quite strange....

They may be saying that if they have no proof themselves of what you have alleged. However, it should be perfectly easy for them to get access to the IT records to prove how much time is being spent on FB or other non-work websites. They should also be able to determine when this person gets to work - by CCTV, clocking-in, again records of when IT is being accessed. There is no need for him/her to mention you specifically and it's pretty poor management on their part not to have noticed this was happening, never mind bringing you into it.