Q: I was going through some personal problems that were affecting my work. My manager asked what was wrong and I told him in confidence. I now find he has told some of my colleagues. What can I do about this?
Mar 12 2007
Answered by: Peter Done Ask a question
If the information is sensitive, personal information, relating to health then passing it on without permission could be breach of the data protection act. There is also law governing breach of confidence but it is complex. So it is important to look at what the information is and investigate whether there is a valid reason why your manager may have passed the information on.
It will depend on what the information is but if you do decide to go down the legislation route you must start by lodging grievance for passing on personal information – for more information visit www.acas.org.uk It is not always necessary to take this route and will depend on your personal situation – if you don’t want to take it that far you should try speaking to your manager to let them know this was wrong, give them the opportunity to explain why they told colleagues and work out how to resolve the situation.
You could also mention this breach of confidence to your HR department, if you have one, or a senior manager. Your line manager may have thought this would help you in the long run, because colleagues in the know would be able to understand why your work is affected.
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