Under the Data Protection Act 1998 an employee’s health conditions and illnesses are covered and considered as ‘sensitive data’. This means that your employer is not at liberty to disclose the reasons you are off work to anyone else without your prior permission.
In general, an employee is not obliged to disclose all of his or her medical condition but many inform their employer out of courtesy. However, in some circumstances, it may be obligatory to fully disclose reasons for your absence. This may be so your employer can fully assess the situation to ensure that health and safety requirements at work are met. However, if this is not required then an employee does not need to disclose the nature of illness simply how it affects his or her work, and when they expect to be feeling better and be able to go back to work.
If you feel that your employer has disclosed to other people the reasons why you are off and details of any illness then this is a big breach of the Data Protection Act which could lead to a fine for the company or worse depending on the extent of the breach.
The Data Protection Act 1998 was made to protect a person’s personal and sensitive information; this ranges from sexual orientation, racial or ethnic origins to his or her physical and mental health conditions. Sensitive data is information that is classified and can only be disclosed either with permission from the person who’s information it is or in exceptional circumstances.
In general, an employee is not obliged to disclose all of his or her medical condition but many inform their employer out of courtesy. However, in some circumstances, it may be obligatory to fully disclose reasons for your absence. This may be so your employer can fully assess the situation to ensure that health and safety requirements at work are met. However, if this is not required then an employee does not need to disclose the nature of illness simply how it affects his or her work, and when they expect to be feeling better and be able to go back to work.
If you feel that your employer has disclosed to other people the reasons why you are off and details of any illness then this is a big breach of the Data Protection Act which could lead to a fine for the company or worse depending on the extent of the breach.
The Data Protection Act 1998 was made to protect a person’s personal and sensitive information; this ranges from sexual orientation, racial or ethnic origins to his or her physical and mental health conditions. Sensitive data is information that is classified and can only be disclosed either with permission from the person who’s information it is or in exceptional circumstances.
