yes no joke i was spoken to today and formally told my actions where not acceptable as i had spoken to someone in our HR department without my line managers permission or letting him know.
still sitting here quite stunned as i had no idea about this rule. we are a large organisation spread over 5 centres and i walked to one of our other buldings 5 mins away in my lunch break for an informal chat as i wanted to make sure i was using the right forms and following the correct company policy on a H&S matter. My union representative suggested that i do this.
apparently i am undermining my line managers authority when i do this. no iea how to approach this as no one else has been told about this rule.