Does this break data protection laws?

zaksmum

My husband is about to be TUPE'd, with redundancy offered as an alternative. There are about 30 men affected, many of whom have worked nearly 40 years for the company.

Before each man knew his personal financial redundancy offer, a list was given by the HR department to the union convenor. This detailed every man's redundancy offer alongside his name and address. The convenor carelessly left the list unattended on a desk, and it was seen by a large number of employees passing by that desk.

The first my husband knew of his redundancy package was when an employee he didn't even know approached him and joked that he'd be ok financially for a few months with the amount of money, which he quoted, that my husband would be paid off with.

Within half a day, everyone knew the details of exactly how much each man was to be offered. The men concerned protested to HR, who said it wasn't their fault, the list had been given to the convenor. But several of the men are not even in the union, and at no time was permission asked or given to hand out individual financial deails in this way.

Has the HR department broken data protection laws here or breached employee confidentiality?

If so, what can the men concerned do about it?

Debt_Free_Chick

zaksmum wrote: »

Has the HR department broken data protection laws here or breached employee confidentiality?

99.99% certain that they haven't. The DP laws do not prevent data being passed on, but it must only be passed on where there is a valid reason for doing so. Somewhere along the line, your OH will have agreed to this or had a notice telling him that that this could happen. The DP law goes back to 1998, so he may not remember.

The Union rep has certainly been careless with data and that is something that the DP laws aim to prevent. There should be internal procedures that state how data is to be protected, but mistakes can happen, especially where the only real protection in this situation is "don't leave personal information in a place where it can be seen by others" :rolleyes:

If so, what can the men concerned do about it?

Nothing really - HR are right. It wasn't their fault - it was the convenor's sloppiness. Expect an apology but nothing else.

zaksmum

Thanks debt free chick. But where would the men stand who were not part of that union, and therefore not known to the convenor? I'm sure their details shouldn't have been given to the convenor.

Debt_Free_Chick

zaksmum wrote: »

Thanks debt free chick. But where would the men stand who were not part of that union, and therefore not known to the convenor? I'm sure their details shouldn't have been given to the convenor.

It's the HR/general company policy that determines what HR can do with the data. To be honest, they have to be able to pass information like this on, where there's a good reason for doing so.

If you really want to pursue this, ask HR for the policy on protecting personal data.

If I'm honest, I don't think your gripe is with HR though - it's with the careless convenor and those insensitive folk who went around telling tales! :mad: They had an option - they could have kept their big gobs shut!