Anonymous complaint has come back to bite me

nigel411

Hi all

Here I am at 3am in the morning, can't sleep and really upset over a anonymous complaint which I made earlier in the week which has now backfired.

I work for a petroleum company in Northern England and for the last few weeks there has been a health and safety issue in my workplace which after several mentions to the team leader has not been acted on. Following a incident on Monday, I decided to put a anonymous call into helpline which deals with these kind of issues and tries to rectify them.

However, yesterday (Friday) I was pulled to one side by the team leader and he said a complaint had been made by (he quoted my full name) about the issued I raised. I was threatened and its been passed around the team that it was me. Considering there are over 50 people in the team its very clear that my name was passed on in the original anonymous complaint as I was clearly in the firing line.

Now, I am very !!!!ed that my name was passed on from a third party when I was clearly told that my details will be keep confidential. I would not of made the complaint otherwise. :mad:

Have any rules been broken here that I can quote in a letter to the complaints manager of the agency which passed on my details?

Thanks in advance for any advice, I really appreciate any points that I can raise.

Nigel

Empty_pockets

Are you in a union?

Old_Git

if you wished it to remain anonymous you should not have given your name .

Are you sure your name was passed on and they have not simply quested it was you .

If your name was passed on then take it on the chin and watch your step .

bigblackdog

why did you give your name to the annonymous helpline?

anamenottaken

bigblackdog wrote: »

why did you give your name to the annonymous helpline?

Just guessing - it would have been described as "confidential", not "anonymous".

The fact that the OP mentions the full name was mentioned to them by the team leader suggests that that full name is not what is normally used in the workplace.

ceridwen

You DO need to put in an official complaint to whoever is in charge at that helpline.

Someone there has messed up in the way they do their job and they need to have it explained clearly to them exactly how to do their job properly - otherwise they will "land someone else in it" later as well.

HOpe things work out well for you.

Sambucus_Nigra

If you have already put the issue up the ladder several times, then they would have made the connection anyway.

SarEl

You say that this was mentioned previously - did you or anyone else make a formal complaint about the problem? Because if you did this is a detriment for whistleblowing, but you may have shot yourself in the foot by not having made any formal mention of the problem, because there is then no evidence that the employer kne about it before you reported it.

getmore4less

They could be bluffing if you are the only one that has raised the issue.

Have you followed the correct company proceedures?

Is this an internal or external "anon" facility?

[Deleted User]

Google "Whistleblowing Policy" legislation designed to protect people in your position.

dickydonkin

If this 'third party' is the HSE, I would find it very unlikely that they would pass on your name to your employer. Getmore4less has likely stated what has actually happened here - guilty by association.

You have taken the correct action by mentioning any concerns you have regarding safety in your workplace to your employer, however, a team leader may not be the ideal person to highlight any safety issues to as s/he may believe it could reflect badly on them if such matters went further up the chain of command - especially if they are responsible for that area of the workplace. Yes, mention it to your immediate manager in the first instance, but then put it it writing to someone more senior if you think you are getting no satisfaction.

Obviously, if you believe there is iminent danger, then insist that something is done there and then.

EDIT

Following a incident on Monday

Was this 'incident' in relation to the concerns you highlighted to your team leader?