Employee Confidentiality

Is he a member of a union? Does he have a rep? If there is a union at his work with a union rep, I would go to them and ask. I promise you they know ALL the rules.

I don't believe he has any recourse. Now had he told HR only, and it leaked, then yes. But as it stands, just a bad manager.

My husband and I have this discussion all the time. He firmly believes that when you take time off whether sick or not, you do not have to explain your self until you are out of company compliance. i.e. sick for three days= need doctors note. Going on a romantic weekend trip and need Friday and Monday...only say I would like to have the following days off.

That's how we do it. If I feel I need to give more reason, I am opening myself up to letting the whole office know...

As far as I know, HR is the only dept that has to maintain confidentiality. Unless your husband SPECIFICALLY stated that it was confidential and should remain as such, the manager didn't have to keep it confidential. I am sorry this happened to your husband! I would encourage him not to share anything personal any more with this boss or anyone else at work. GL

M

You can't live your life in reverse but a valuable lesson has been learned. If something is personal to you there is no need to let your manager know exactly why you will be out. I have developed this habit of requesting time off and not stating exactly why I will be out. I am required to let my job know what type of time I will be using within their guidelines but I am not required to tell them what I am actually doing with my time.

Example: If I need to use a sick day, I simply call in before my start time and let the time keeper know I will be using a sick day today. If I have to use 3 consecuative days, I am required to bring in a doctor's note. Even the doctor's note can be ambiquious because of doctor/patient confidentiality.

So I've followed the guidelines but haven't put myself in an awkward position.

As for your husband's situation, I would recommend talking with the union rep if there is one. Other than that he must figure out a way within himself to let this go. Afterall the paycheck doesn't come in anyone else's name but his. He need to consentrate on doing the best job he can while he is there and looking for a new opportunity. I really hope this helps and encourages.

Many years ago I had a friend whose husband had an epileptic episode at home. Then he slept all night but could not talk coherently for 2 days. Of course, she took him to the hospital, but when she called work, she would ONLY tell them that he was sick. She would not give them anymore info.

This was brought on by being on-call 24 hours a day in IT and boy, did they wake him up all the time after a long day of work. Then didn't let up on weekends either. During one of these many episodes, he cracked a vertebra in his back as well. They never let the people at work know because they knew it would be all over the place.

If I were you, I would look to see what your husband can offer as an explanation at work the next time he needs to take a day off. If his boss presses him, he should tell him that this is his own business and that is what he has days off for.

I hope he can find another job soon.

Dawn

Unless your husband told his supervisor that he wanted this info kept confidential the supervisor would not know to not repeat it. Communication in this circumstance is not automatically deemed confidential.

The best thing he can do at work is to ignore the talk. If he tries to do anything else it will just keep the interest going.

Doesn't sound like a breach of employee confidentiality to me, unfortunately. Some people have bad manners and are tactless...like his manager. Probably not much he can do about it though, sorry... :(

To me it depends on the context in which he told his supervisor. If he mentioned it and acted like it was no big deal, then his boss might not have thought he wanted it kept confidential. If he told his boss that this was a private matter and he preferred to keep the information between the two of them, then yes I think the boss screwed up big time.

Different people have different sensitivities regarding personal matters. Without knowing why your DH was out, it is hard to tell if he is being oversensitive. For instance I might tell my boss that I was feeling poorly and had an upset stomach. I know someone at my job that will tell the excruciating details of his bowel movements if he has to be out of work. Obviously, this guy has no problem with telling his personal business at work....

In many cases it's a matter of company policy rather than legality. The only really legal issue would be if it was a medical reason ... then HIPPA comes into play.

In fact, unless it's against company policy, his supervisor could broadcast his income information. In most places it's not illegal (it's not illegal at the federal level, though some states may have privacy laws in place).

He should ask HR (if his company has one) about this situation to see what his rights are.

Ehh, well, he does have a right to privacy but to prove it was violated is hard. My boss has a big mouth, everyone know everything about everyone because she doesn't get you don't yell out, what!! you won't be in today because you think you have HIV!!?? It is actually quite pathetic but since her intent is not to spread the information but talk on the phone it is not a violation of their rights. Most have learned to email things to her or call me.

Personal Health Information is protected by law. If you have to take time off for medical reasons, your employer technically doesn't even need anything other than a doctor's note saying that your are medically excused.

If you take the day off for personal reasons, it all depends. Did you miss work because your car broke down? Did you miss work because your house is in foreclosure or you're being sued by a neighbor who says your tree fell on their property? If it's a case of your car breaking down, who cares who knows that? If it's something much more of a personal nature, one would think it's best to give as few details as possible in the first place.
Fortunately, I work in an office that is very discreet about things, but I am shocked at the level of personal information some of the employees just blab to everyone about. They'll tell anyone who answers the phone their life story.

I work in HR and if an employee is entitled to personal days off, all they are required to do is put in a request for the time off. Explanations only become necessary if the time off becomes considered excessive, in which case the employee should let someone know what's going on.
We had one employee who was on the verge of getting fired for calling in at the last minute for time off. She wanted days at a time on a moment's notice cancelling out on her clients who we had to find replacements for. My boss found out through the grapevine that the woman's husband had a heart attack and was travelling out of town to see specialists. The husband was in Kiwanis with my boss and that's how my boss found out. I thought that was a little strange because being THAT secretive almost cost her her job. I mean, she refused to give ANY reason.

In any case, actual laws about confidentiality are fairly specific and don't cover all things and all conversations.
Your husband just needs to keep looking for another job while being thankful for the paycheck he has coming in in the meantime.

That sucks, for sure, but not knowing what was disclosed, that's my opinion.

Best wishes.

He may have something there. What are the work rules regarding information. Seems like the boss crossed the line. If your DH is in a union contact the union rep. An Open Door Policy exists in most places which prevents a manager from revealing info of a confidential nature.

i do believe its called the heppa law that all employees have a right to privacey n confidentiality.we follow it by the letter here on my job.unfortunately theres not to much you can do about gossip-however your hubby should turn him in to his overhead.

Did your husband speak to his supervisor about this already? And was there anyone else that he works with that he may have mentioned where he was going to be? If he told no one but the supervisor, he knows who "let the cat out of the bag" so to say. If someone else he works with knew about it, he can't be sure that it was the supervisor. If only the supervisor knew, have your husband speak to HR. If he specifically told his supervisor that he didn't want the information shared, and the supervisor did it anyways, the supervisor is in the wrong.
Good luck!