Boss Vent

[mylilnikita]

I need to vent if you don’t mind lol. I’m trying to see other opinions if a line was crossed.

My boss is well something, kind of like a dementor from Harry Potter lol. And she has done shady stuff in past with me and other people. However, there are some lines that should not be crossed.


I got hurt the other night at work, luckily not serious but I have been put on restrictions by the doctor that is on workers comp panel.

My boss is aware and hasn’t been supportive but that a different story.
She came back from her days off today and later from 2 different people who are in no way needed to know.
She has told them that I am on medical restrictions.
One works in a another department, the other is another supervisor (there are 4 of us) then our manager.
I’m a private person and there is no reason for them to have known this.

I didn’t know this until my boss left because we would have had a discussion.


Am I wrong to be ticked?

 

[White Cat]

Yes

 

[Karin1984]

Do these two people have anything to do with the work you do? As in, you have to work together, they make the schedules, etc. Or are they just some random colleagues who you never have to deal with.

If these two need to know you will be doing different work or different hours due to medical reasons, she was right to tell them. But it would have been nice if she informed you about it, or asked if you wanted to inform your colleagues yourself.

If their work is not impacted by your restrictions, then there was no need to tell them.

 

[PollyannaMom]

If they have to take over a task you're not allowed to do, or a deadline has been moved on them to accommodate your restrictions, it's fair for them to know why.

Otherwise, it's just gossip, and your boss should have kept her mouth shut.

 

[Skywalker]

I wouldn't be ticked. Being told you are on medical restrictions is not private information. Did she give details about your medical condition or just that you were on restrictions?

And, you having restrictions has to be relevant to at least some co-workers or managers since it will alter what you are able to do. Surely, some gaps are going to need to be filled by someone else?

Also, it was a workplace injury. I would expect that to be known/talked about. Even just for training purposes as I'm sure there are going to be discussions about safe procedures, etc.

 

[LuvOrlando]

So sorry that happened, as a disabled person with invisible trouble I find it is very dehumanizing to be treated in these kinds of ways when injured

No-one with privileged info from their job has a right to share it in an interpersonal way, especially medical info, that is just amoral.

The question is do you want to ruin your job over it, probably not so while you are justified to be upset think carefully.

Maybe send yourself an email to document events with the current date describing what happened in case there is more trouble down the road, email is legitimate for timestamps. If you tell the story now it will be more accurate and more credible if you decide to tell the story later on. Also it might help let off some steam to just get it out, you can share it later if the need arises, if not you have it.

 

[tvguy]

Others have pointed out reasons why there may be a legitimate need for these people to know, so pending more information, I can't say.
Sort of like the whole dance companies had to do, and in some cases, as still legally required to do with covid. Employee privacy is important, but so is the safety of other employees. So Jane had a right to privacy, but the boss had a legal obligation to privacy, but Jane's co-workers had a right to a safe work environment. So Jane's co-workers were told (and still are in many placed) "someone" has tested positive but not who, and Jane is the only employee out sick (or wearing a mask now). So sometimes you can't accomplish both.

 

[Karin1984]

Did she give details about your medical condition or just that you were on restrictions?

Indeed, also important information to know.

Sharing medical details is almost always a no-no, but if it was just a mention there are restrictions it is a different story.

 

[easyas123]

I wouldn't be ticked. Being told you are on medical restrictions is not private information. Did she give details about your medical condition or just that you were on restrictions?

And, you having restrictions has to be relevant to at least some co-workers or managers since it will alter what you are able to do. Surely, some gaps are going to need to be filled by someone else?

Also, it was a workplace injury. I would expect that to be known/talked about. Even just for training purposes as I'm sure there are going to be discussions about safe procedures, etc.

Exactly -
For instance we had a fella who severely injured his hand in a scissor lift incident. I had to keep his Superintendent & Foreman apprised of when he'd be back and what restrictions he'd have so they knew if they needed to have additional manpower on the site to compensate for the other employee being out or on restricted duty. In addition we used it as a training tool I brought in a 3rd party trainer to re-train everyone on scissor lifts and had the injured employee come and talk to everyone about what happened, what can be done different in the future. Plus he talked to all the guys about the process of his medical care and what it was like to be out for so long on work comp and how it worked from a employees point of view, which was a GREAT example and a learning experience for other employees who often hear about it from the employer point of view but don't really hear to much about it from the injured employees point of view. Obviously, if he hadn't been comfortable doing that I wouldn't have had him do that...but I would have used his experience as a learning tool.

Sort of like the whole dance companies had to do, and in some cases, as still legally required to do with covid. Employee privacy is important, but so is the safety of other employees.

Oh man, dance we did. What a PITA.

 

[ronandannette]

I wouldn't be ticked. Being told you are on medical restrictions is not private information. Did she give details about your medical condition or just that you were on restrictions?

And, you having restrictions has to be relevant to at least some co-workers or managers since it will alter what you are able to do. Surely, some gaps are going to need to be filled by someone else?

Also, it was a workplace injury. I would expect that to be known/talked about. Even just for training purposes as I'm sure there are going to be discussions about safe procedures, etc.

This - totally. You did a nice job of describing some of the bigger picture details simply. I love how “aggrieved” employees always assume they know everything there is to know about the duties/obligations of management when in fact their view is very narrow.

 

[LoveDaisy]

As manager if someone is hurt at work we are all informed. This is for a variety of reasons from coverage to possible changes in procedures or training and everything in between.

Without knowing your company policies, how the people told relate to the work you do, coverage, if this will lead to changes in training or policies, etc. it is hard to say. I understand you are upset and clearly have other issues with your boss but were they wrong. In my company the answer would be no.

 

[Magical2017]

This is a vent post, so vent away. It sounds like if this was the only issue you had with the boss, it might not have upset you. It sounds like it is just one more thing on top of a pile. I have to agree that there is probably not much you can do if your boss is disclosing the information that you are on leave without giving personal details, but I don't work in HR. I would probably let this one go and focus on the bigger things. Have you been documenting issues that have been ongoing?

I have an excellent boss right now, but have had some awful bosses in the past. Sometimes a million small things plus a few big ones require a vent post Sorry, OP!

 

[CdnCarrie]

My thought here is never ever complain about your boss on a public message board. You don't even need to register to read this board.

 

[_19disnA]

If you don't like how your boss behaves or think they are discussing what should be private information with co-workers, I would talk to someone in HR. Perhaps the nature of your work is such that certain others need to know of your issue so they properly assign work to you. If you were injured on the job, likely others who were around at the time would have seen or been aware of this happening.

 

[dez1978]

I think getting hurt at work is different than getting hurt on your own time, or having restrictions from a disability. Even if your boss hadn't said anything to anyone, chances are other people know, and others will be affected by your restrictions. Perhaps the fact that you already dislike her has affected how you feel about this incident. Other people are going to have to pick up the slack likely, and even the people who you don't think need to know may be affected if some of their team has to help pick up the slack. I don't think this is a big deal. Unless of course she was talking like "can you believe this person is acting like such a wuss and being a baby about getting hurt? that is another story.

 

[MamaMermaid]

As long as she didn't share with the medical concerns were, I wouldn't be upset. Bigger fish to fry...

 

[mylilnikita]

The 2 people she told were just told there were restrictions not why.
One of them is in my department but I usually see for half an hour 3 days a week so it doesn’t impact her at all.
Second person is in another department so there wouldn’t be her picking up my slack.

 

[Karin1984]

Yeah, then just let it go. For whatever reason you probably came up in conversation and it was shared you would have restrictions. I doubt your boss went out to find random colleagues to tell them about your situation. I do not think there was malintent. If there was, she would have a. shared more personal information or bad mouthed you, and b. found more influential people to share your story with.

You have issues with your boss. Maybe for good reasons. But I do not think you have to add this to your list of grievances.

If you are truly bothered by this, and not just looking for more reasons to hate your boss, go talk to her and ask what the reason was to share your restrictions.

 

[fla4fun]

I wouldn’t be angry about a manager informing other managers that I was on restriction so long as no personal health information was shared. When I think about “Need To Know”, the fact that someone is on restriction and what they are not allowed to do would be shareable, but what the injury is, or any medical specifics would not.