My manager had a problem with me and instead of coming to me directly, my manager asked 2 other non-managerial employees to tell me to stop doing something. It would appear to me that my manager shared private information about me with other employees. Are they allowed to do this? Is it not the responsibility of the manager to address me directly?
Responses (1)
Whilst employees using insider information and the likes are strictly prohibited and heavily penalized, their own privacy's protection is asymmetric in magnitude. Save for a few spheres, it's no more than courtesy in the formal layer. You could confront the manager and ask them to approach directly, or complain to HR, and it may or may not yield aught (including perchance escalating your own transgression, whatever it is).
Discussions about employees' medical-related information is specifically prohibited by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA. Employee records concerning health insurance coverage, workers compensation matters and documentation for workplace accommodations and Family and Medical Leave Act absences must be maintained separately from other employment records. HIPAA law mandates the designation of a privacy officer in the company who has sole access to those records. If an employer shares medical-related information with another employee outside a need-to-know basis, it can result in possible penalties and fines under HIPAA and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.