Is it a breach of the data protection act for a boss to pin up his employee's wage cheque on the public notice board?

[Harridan]

Or some kind of other illegal thing?

I'm a regular but have changed my name for this as I've told her I'll ask on Mumsnet and want to preserve my anonymity. A friend of mine had her wage cheque along with the wage slip pinned up on the notice board of the club she works in. At the very least it's extremely unprofessional, but has her boss broken any law?

Why did he pin it there? If it was to remind him to give her it I'm not sure, but if it was to show others what she earns then he's a right b*stard! Not sure about the legalities though!

v out of order, whether illegal or not.

dunno bout illegal but if its not it should be, was it a new job or did her boss do it to upset her? i used to have wages pinned up at the end of the month but in an envelope much more practical.

I could be worng but I think the data protection act is more about keeping personal details. I would have thought these actions were more to do with employee confidentially issues

I think her boss did it to show other employees how much she was paid; maybe it was to upset them, put them in their place, or just cause trouble. It's a bit inexplicable, but she's very annoyed about it (understandably)

That is a serious breach of data protection. Is there a HR dept?

I think if her national insurance number was on show or her address etc then yes it is a breach but if their was nothing but her wage on show then no he has done nothing wrong.

is there a dignity at work policy - indirect harrassment/bullying?

yes, surely it would come under the heading of bullying?

I have heard about one famous high tech company where everyone knows what everyone else is paid, but that is company wide. In this case, your friend was singled out. What a horrid thing to do.

fuck yes!
it is definately out of order.

Yes it is. i would assume all the details were available for all to read.

ohhh to have a digital camera handy and to take a pic of it. i would drag them through the coals.

how bizarre. what a weirdo. I'd be furious

Am bumping this for the monday crowd

& for your friend.
Bang out of order - has she contacted CAB or solicitor to get legal advice?

Similar situation -

Dh had a payrise at work along with a few others on his floor.
It wasn't as much as some of the others on the dept so he 'blew up' the payslip and pinned it up on the notice board at work, as if to say 'why have some of us got x for payrise and others only got x. He was told he would get written warning and possibly sacked! They saw it as very very serious.

It was obviously his choice to pin it up, but the company were obviously v embarrased. (The company were going through a messy take over at the time)I would have said there is some kind of law either way.

i would have thought that this is "personal information" and therefore likely to be covered by the DPA . there is a website for the information commisonner who is teh regulator for Data Protection breaches and i think it may have a phone advice line she could try. i would definitely raise this as an internal complaint/greivance . outrageous!