Confidentiality breach

[PoorlyIam]

A senior manager (not my line manager) has disclosed to a mutual ex-colleague from a previous organisation that I am currently off work sick.

I am disappointed as I had not told anyone in my personal life. Clearly my colleagues and manager are aware and also know the reason.

This other person has been gossiping and I suspect trying to find out why I am off. This has now resulted in other people asking me what’s wrong.

Should I leave it? Raise a grievance? This is a very anxious time for me whilst I await a barrage of test results and although it seems trivial, I am upset and do feel as though my privacy has been invaded.

Thanks for reading.

Hopeful bump

Could you speak to your line manager?
That is awful behaviour.
If you have a HR department, or a union rep, that could be an option.

I'm very sorry you're ill but I don't think the manager has breached your confidentiality if they haven't given details of your illness.

Of course for work reasons it could be reasonable and fair for colleagues to be told that you are off sick and likely to be off for X amount of time, rather than on holiday or have left the job. They can't plan work schedules etc if they don't know whether you're due back tomorrow or never. OTOH there's probably no reason for them to know the nature of your illness.

@haffdonga I don’t think it’s acceptable to tell an ex colleague though. Obviously colleagues will know she’s off sick but it shouldn’t be discussed out the work place surely?

I’d be really upset OP as I’m sure this puts pressure on you, but I’m sure it wasn’t meant in a malicious way at all. It may have come up in conversation such as ‘I haven’t seen OP in a while she’s been off sick’
I’ve just gone back to work after a care of pneumonia and I’m a bit ticked off my whole work place seem to know the ins and outs of my illness!

Oh yes. I'd missed the fact she was an ex colleague. Sorry about that.

End of the line - HR aren’t very helpful or efficient usually. I do have a union - never seen a rep at work though. I’m wary of going the formal route and being labelled a trouble maker.

Haffdonga - I told the rest of our team myself. We are close knit. This manager has nothing to do with me and works in a different location. We see each other around and sometimes have reason to communicate. This person told someone else who does not even work for our organisation. Not now and not previously.

Geneva - hope you are feeling better and on the mend. I do not know either of these people socially, barely know them professionally. I’m just hacked off as now the cat is out of the bag socially I do have friends asking questions. I wanted to deal with things in private.

Haffdonga - no problem.

How annoying for you, and I agree unacceptable. What you do now depends on what you want to achieve really. Have you thought about that?

OP I'm sorry you're not well

I'm wondering if HR cover this, because then, for example, if I talk to my best friend and say someone at my work is off sick, that could be against the rules too. I don't tend to talk about work outside of work, but I'm just wondering what confidentiality would cover in this situation.

Evening Flowery. I don’t know what I want to achieve. The damage has been done really. If I wasn’t feeling so fragile I would likely have brushed it off. I do feel it’s unacceptable. However I do not want to make myself an easy target, if I raise a fuss.

I do have a union - never seen a rep at work though. I’m wary of going the formal route and being labelled a trouble maker.

You can ask them what they think. It shouldn't go any further than that if you don't want it to. Even if they advise you there's a case and they'd support it, you have the option of saying no.

Our Code of Conduct has a no retaliation clause, though I realise that probably just means it will be less blatant if someone is determined, and they will come up with other reasons.

How would you feel about speaking to the person in question, and just basically saying what you have said here. That way he/she will know it was unacceptable and will hopefully feel embarrassed and apologetic, you’ll have had your say without the stress of a formal process.

Would that work?