Protecting my personal info/data at work

[wheretogetit]

HR Experts in the House – Advice Needed

I recently asked HR to ensure that my personal information — name, address, and other sensitive details — is not visible to a new manager. I am a victim of a serious crime and take my privacy very seriously, making every effort to shield my data wherever possible.

Initially, HR said it wasn’t possible. I explained my situation again, emphasizing safety concerns, and they have since relocated us for safety reasons. I haven’t disclosed that the relocation is temporary, but I want to know: is it feasible to fully restrict access to your personal data from certain managers in the workplace?

I’d really appreciate any insights or guidance from HR professionals or anyone who has navigated similar situations.

also, is it possible to use a PO Box address at work? I want to update my address to a PO Box address. Or does it have to be the exact address one actually resides?

Can you just change your address on the system yourself or does HR have to do it for you?

Can you change it to a distant friend's for example, if you stayed with them?

Or what if you had to live in a camper van for a while? You'd have to use a PO box or a friend's address if that were the case.

Unless your house was being used for work purposes does it matter as long as they could get payslips or letters etc to you? Which mostly come by email these days now anyway.

My thoughts exactly but I have a nosey manager who knows I have just moved and might query the fact that I have P.O. Box address on my record I recall he asked me why the address on my sick note was different from the address on my work record before and asked if he should change it and I said no of course I said no.

I can update address by myself (I don’t need to contact HR) online but just want to be know whats allowed as I do not want to disclose my current residential address for safety reasons

I also wonder if there is legal requirements for employers to have employees residential addresses on file 🤷🏾‍♀️

Our managers have access to our next of kin details & our home addresses/personal phone numbers if needed. They're kept in an access-only part of our network & not widely available. The addresses are needed in case anyone doesn't show up to work & isn't answering their phone so a welfare check can be done. It's probably the same at yours.

I don't have access to anyone's home address. Only HR do. I thought that was standard.

thanks @PsychoSydi am sure it is similar - it’s a local council job. From you post - does it mean I can’t put a P.O. Box address? Also they are kept in access only part but that does not stop a nosey manager from going to have a look does it and also where are the other info and doc kept like passports, immigration doc etc? Access only too?

@DappledThings are you a manager? I think managers at my job have access to people’s addresses- they can check if they want to but was told they can’t go check without valid reason but then who checks to know and see why the manager if the manager is looking up on addresses for valid reasons 🤷🏾‍♀️ how is my data protected?

Yes, I manage 45 people. Address and all other data is held only in HR's systems in a bit I can't access. I have a few people's phone numbers but that's by their consent. If I needed to check on someone who I didn't have a number for I would need to ask HR to do it.

I remember checking with HR years ago because I hate my birthday and didn't want anyone to know when it was so I didn't get the office collection. My manager thought I was ridiculous and said she'd ask HR for it and they confirmed they wouldn't release it as it id personal information.

I'm manager and have never had access to the address of my direct reports anywhere I've worked. HR systems don't show it to me. I had to request it once via HR for a member of staff and justify why I needed it. HR have it.
And I definitely cannot access Right to Work documents like passports. They're saved in a secure file only HR can access.

Ok, I think informal discussion is definitely the first step, as lots of places lock down when you challenge them formally.

After that, go to the ICO website and read up on GDPR. The HR team will have a lawful basis for processing your address - but I can't imagine that they have a lawful reason why your line manager would need to process it. So a challenge on the basis of GDPR might get them to look at it again.

In any company I've been involved with that has had an HR department, personal information such as home addresses was only available to HR. If your HR allows managers to see personal information, that is likely to be a breach of GDPR unless they have a lawful justification. I note you list your name as sensitive information you want withheld from the new manager. I'm not sure if you really meant that but, if you did, you won't get anywhere with that. But no managers should have access to your home address and other personal information unless they need it (e.g. payroll clearly need to have access to your bank details, but no-one else should be able to get them).

What you need to ask is, how did your manager know that the address on your sick note was different from the one on file, unless he has access to the one on file? And when you next move never give them the new address.

Is your role at the council listed on the website in the public domain? Worth checking that too for safety

Good luck

Must be an awful situ to be in x

I'm not surprised this is triggering your spiny sense...why is he cross-checking the addresses, what is he trying to achieve or prove by trying to "catch you out". Weird controlling BS.

Not an HR expert but I'd be surprised if you formally requested this in writing if they didn't oblige purely from a covering their backs perspective. It is reasonable that you have to provide your address to your workplace for various reasons, but there is no reasonable need for your manager to access it or for anybody outside HR to access it.

I’ve just found out that managers at my workplace can see employees’ full legal names and home addresses, and possibly our dates of birth as well. I’ve raised this with HR several times and asked for my details to be restricted, but they keep telling me there’s no way to do that without “disrupting the whole system.”

In a one to one meeting on Friday, my new manager had my profile open on her screen and every bit of information I’d asked to be hidden was right there. My heart honestly sank.

She also pushed me quite a lot about updating my address because her own manager keeps asking her about it. I don’t understand why they’re so fixated on it. They’ve known for weeks that I was moving and that it was a slow process. I’ve been doing it room by room because I didn’t want boxes everywhere, so I still have access to both places. They only have the old address on file at the moment.

What I can’t get my head around is why they’re so invested in having the new address immediately, to the point where it’s being chased up the management chain. It feels intrusive and I genuinely don’t see why it matters so much.

Part of me is tempted to just put a PO Box down. HMRC can still reach me because I’ve set all my correspondence with them to email to avoid extra paperwork, so it’s not as if I’m uncontactable.

Have you disclosed to the manager that you’re a victim of abuse though? They might be suspecting fraud or something as opposed to someone fleeing for their personal safety. I know you told HR but I’m not sure what information is being passed across.

Tell them you’re not moving simple.

It's very strange that your employer has an HR system that doesn't restrict employees' personal data only to members of the HR department. (Unless you work in the HR department yourself?)

You're not in a unique position of needing to keep your home address restricted, although perhaps your HR department haven't experienced dealing with it before. Have you explained the situation to them? Either they create a way to restrict the information or you'll give them a PO address.

I haven’t told either of the managers anything about this. I’ve only spoken to HR, because it would feel strange to tell the new manager when I was asking for this information to be hidden from her in the first place.

You’re right that they might be assuming something is off. My old manager once asked if he could change my address on their system to the one on my sick note, and I said no at the time. I think that might be part of why they’re now pushing for an update.

The situation with my GP is the reason the addresses didn’t match for a while. I didn’t change my first old address with the GP because doing that would have forced me to move to a different surgery, and I didn’t want to lose the GP who actually understood my long-term health issues. Once everything settled and I knew the new house was still within my GP’s catchment area, I updated it properly. If I hadn’t handled it this way, I would have ended up changing surgeries three times, which would have been really disruptive — especially after a past experience where an NHS trust failed to transfer my records when I moved practices years ago.
So nothing about it was suspicious; it was just me trying to keep my medical care stable while sorting out a slow, phased house move.

It’s not odd at all. All line managers can access the personal information of their direct reports like home address, phone number, email address and emergency contact. It’s basic information, used if the person is absent from work for example. I too work in government and our HR system that managers use to manage staff, flags up if there’s an issue with addresses. It flags up all the way up the line management chain too, so the countersigning manager is aware or can action it if the direct manager is out of office.

@lhavetoaskSo I have the issue of the GP and the issue of victim of crime. Although I have only mentioned the crime issue to HR.

@zzplecyes, it is strange and perhaps they haven’t dealt with before or they can’t be bothered or see me as pain in the butt.🤦🏾‍♀️

I think I’m going to have to speak to my union rep and an employment solicitor about this. I can already see my managers manager kicking up a fuss if I decide to use a PO Box address, and I’d rather get proper advice before I take that step.
Although I am eager and very open to suggestions and opinions on here which are always very good and brings different perspectives to one’s attention

Okay so you clearly don’t trust your direct line manager, do you trust anyone in your line management chain? Can you ask for a confidential chat with them, without your line manager, to explain your concerns?

To be honest I think you’re being slightly dramatic, you don’t need an employment solicitor just yet. It might be the case that a change of line manager suits you better, maybe a female line manager if you feel more comfortable with them due to the circumstances.

’ve just found out that managers at my workplace can see employees’ full legal names and home addresses, and possibly our dates of birth as well. I’ve raised this with HR several times and asked for my details to be restricted, but they keep telling me there’s no way to do that without “disrupting the whole system.”

Point out to them that this is a clear breach of GDPR. If they refuse to do anything about it, refer it to whoever is responsible for data protection. If that still doesn't get you anywhere, you can complain to the ICO.