Privacy breach- sick leave

wilfred30

TobyTell17 said:

So with that said, again it’s not the nature of my op I am embarrassed about- I chose to keep it confidential and on a need to know basis- I’m just outraged that my boss concluded something without discussing or getting any facts from me or the information I supplied and it feels very personal and an invasion of privacy to know he googled my surgeon. This I can’t control- if he was being nosey so be it, it’s the unprofessional Ian of using that research to add to my absence notes. 

You don't know any such thing, you simply suspect it.  

Vectis

You've said several times that he's 'googled the consultant', but how do you know this? How do you know, without asking, if it's not a mistake on his part? Or, perhaps he's simply put down on the form what is generally known amongst the staff - people often know much more than you perhaps realise they do in a workplace. Gossip, or whatever you want to call it, gets around. Maybe you said something once to someone which gave them a clue and this is what he's acted on. All supposition of course, as is your assertion that he 'googled the consultant'. So, I wouldn't go jumping in and make an accusation because there could quite possibly be an innocent explanation.

You say 'it’s not the nature of my op I am embarrassed about' but is that true? Would you be upset and asking questions if he'd mistakenly put down 'broken leg' or something? You could say that would be equally unprofessional but the fact is that, unless I've misread everything, he's actually put down the correct reason? 

You do realise that if/when you query how or why he put that down on the form he'll probably ask 'Is it not correct?' And what will you answer? 'Yes, but...' 'No' or 'None of your business' which is fair enough but a bit pointless if it's generally known to be the reason.

Phantom151

Jillanddy said:

TobyTell17 said:

Thanks all for your comments- I should have noted that actually I am a manager myself and so I use the same HR system to enter my teams absence....

As a manager I’m still somewhat responsible for my team and therefore still in touch and checking emails....

I don’t want to be petty, but it’s a moral issue by which I feel I should speak up about so he stays on the right side of being professional. I work for a huge corporate company, unfortunately my line manager has zero people skills and doesn’t respond to any emails that are urgent but when it comes to people pay and/or benefits he seems to have a lot of time for this hence googling my surgeon. 

As a manager myself, I'd ask what example you are setting? If off sick you are "somewhat responsible" for getting better. Nothing more. Nobody is irreplaceable.  And that is also a moral issue. It's also a legal issue. You might think you are being responsible,  but you are setting a very poor example to those you manage. 

Or, as the cynic in me is currently shouting, "I worked while recuperating from surgery so you can check YOUR emails while on holiday". Depends what kind of manager they are...

Personally, I think you are making far too much out of this. If you have told one person then you can be pretty sure your entire office already knows what you were in for.

TobyTell17

It’s not the nature of my surgery being known or the fact it was a medical condition of my reproductive organs that I don’t want people to know about. Although the heading is somewhat misleading- could mean anything and give the impression I’m going through fertility treatment- which I’m not. I was diagnosed with endometriosis- and had treatment for this. When the medical secretary to the surgeon emailed me the proof of my admission letter to supply to my employer she asked me if there was anything on the letter I would want marked out and I said on thought let’s mark out what my operation is for, and keep it on a need to know basis. 

I have not had a day sick in my 6 years of service and I am entitled to sick pay for genuine health reasons, this isn’t a question of pay. 

 I may have chose to discuss my condition IF I felt comfortable at the well-being meeting and/or I needed to disclose this as part of a occupational health check. My point is even my GP signed me off with post operative pain and post operative rest, again not detailing anything about what my health condition is. 

My line manager did not hazard a random guess at what my operation was on and strike lucky, he could only have known it had something to do with my reproductive organs if he had searched my surgeon. It’s the method he used to obtain this information that is not ethical or appropriate and this alone is my problem and it’s this that I want to highlight.

My line manager should have sought advise from HR about what sort of questions he should ask and what information he needs to record against my absence and ask me for this. 

 

TobyTell17

@jillandy

thanks I completely agree and actually I was uncontactable for the first two weeks, putting my leads in charge with contacts to reach out for help if needed. My absence has been longer than expected due to complications but I am generally well now so I just check my emails and forward to my leads anything that is critical or urgent and to do with patient care as no one monitors my inbox or has my level of permissions. 

london21

Try not to stress yourself as your health is priority.

When you return can bring it to the attention of your manager but could he have needed this for the system etc.

I see where you are coming from as it is a personal matter that you would not want your work people knowing about. 

TobyTell17

@Vectis I could give my boss benefit of the doubt and say to myself out of all the reasons he could have selected including ‘other’ or ‘hospital inpatient/outpatient’ that he selected something else by mistake. I would be more inclined to believe this if he had put down ‘broken leg’ for example. 

It’s obvious that through my communication and lack of volunteering the details of my medical condition that I chose to not have this information be known. IF my employer has a right to know or ask for further details then ofcourse I would comply and share this information. However, I should be appropriately asked for this information. I would take this approach with my team and do it sensitively too! 

@Phantom151 I was wondering if I’m making too much of a big deal of this- I was more annoyed when I first became aware and now I just think I should just ask him outright in an email and see what he says.  

Savvy_Sue

Savvy_Sue said:

Apart from your manager, who else can see this?

TobyTell17 said:

People pay, HR and that’s it. 

Well, I don't want to minimise this, but it's not as if the information is now available to the entire company / your team / all the managers. And that is roughly the answer I expected - in our much smaller operation only the direct line manager 'sees' each team, the manager's manager has exactly the same access as I do (who's working / who's on leave / who's not working ...) to anyone they don't manage. 

Undervalued

TobyTell17 said:

No where on my hospital admission letter or my not fit to work notes from GP does it mention what my operation was for. I suspect my boss has googled the consultant and found that he is a gynaecologist. I’m outraged by the means of which he has found this information and applied it to my sickness absence as opposed to me divulging any information. I feel this is really unprofessional and it feels almost as if it’s being dismissive and downplaying the importance of my procedure. 

I don’t know how to handle this, I question what privacy rights I have but also not sure how to question him on why ‘reproductive’ was recorded as the reason for my absence, in an attempt to high his unprofessionalism. 

Any advise is welcomed! 

Even if he did that is not unlawful. You, I and everybody else can Google what we like and access any information that is in the public domain. You may well feel it is not a "nice" thing to do and you would not be alone in that view. However we live in a world where a great deal of information is legally available to anybody with a computer or smartphone.

What he should not do is put information on your record which may be incorrect as a result of jumping to the wrong conclusions. However it doesn't sound as though that has happened?

As others have said, many workplaces will require at least some information as to your illness. If you get company sick pay over and above SSP then that is normally discretionary. If you do not provide the company with whatever information they want then they can use that "discretion" not to pay you anything more than any SSP entitlement.

Jaybee_16

Am I alone in thinking the OP anger should be directed towards the consultant?

If the manager Googled the consultant and asked a question and the surgeon replied with medical based information then surely that's a GDPR issue. 

If the Google issue is true, then why would the consultant supply personal medical information to the employer without the express permission of the OP?