Can employee be forced to snitch?
junebug
25 Posts
We have had a payroll breach, which was disclosed during a yearly review. This employee (with MS if it matters)knows who obtained the information, but not how. We want to force her to tell us who obtained the information so we can plug the hole, and make certain it happens no more.
Can we force her (threaten with job or whatever)?
Can we force her (threaten with job or whatever)?
Comments
>again and if you have not already I would stress
>that her name would not be brought into any
>discussions with the perp.
Craig,
I respectfully disagree with this avenue of thinking. Promising anonymity to a complainer or to a witness in any investigation will get you in a whole heap of trouble.
Some employees had discovered a spot in the software that allowed them to view everyone's payroll information, including rates, deductions, "the works", and then passed that info on to others. Even those who did not know how to access it or did not participate in accessing the data, did not notify management of the hole in the software. The hole has now been repaired, but the damage is done. Culprits were named during the investigation, but it has turned into a "he said" "she said" with no clear outcome as of now.
The beach was serious, but to me it is dishearteneing to discover employees not to be as loyal as I had thought. It looks like it's "us" against "them". I hate that.
If your investigation proves to the company's satisfaction that a particular employee(s) was involved in dissemination of the information, without a question, fire him/her/them. Nothing in the NLRA would protect that type of activity.
Some will say 'look at your policy' or 'be guided by your policy'. I say even if you don't have policies, this is a firing offense. Period.
I don't know that we'd ever had to defend it...but I'm not sure I would like trying.