Comments on: Posting Absences

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:25:10 +0000

I agree that it’s ok to list who is in and who is out. Our office is going through the same thing, staff don’t want the reason a person is out listed on the shared calendar. We do list the range a person is out and the day they will return. No reason to put maternity leave, just out 10/1 – 10/31, Returning on 10/31 is all that anyone needs to know. I don’t want people to know if I am the dentist, home with a sick child or at my Dad’s Chemo therapy/FMLA. I certainly don’t want customers to know any of this and if away from home on vacation! It’s none of anyone’s business except my direct supervisor who approved the leave.

By: Elizabeth West

Elizabeth West — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 01:40:42 +0000

The Outlook email calendar gives you the option to make your schedule post private. People can note that the time is blocked off but not the reason for it. Most folks at my work put “Private appointment” on things they don’t want others to see.

But if someone is writing everything on a big board, employees don’t have that option. I think it’s fine to note when people are going to be gone, but the entire place (and clients) don’t necessarily need to know why.

By: Nauman Ahmad

Nauman Ahmad — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 22:09:27 +0000

Thanks for sharing this valuable piece of writing.

Best Regards,
Nauman Ahmad
Founder & CEO @ PeopleQlik
http://www.peopleqlik.com

By: Dennis Maginot

Dennis Maginot — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 16:11:39 +0000

EHL is right that most companies are not going to be subject to HIPAA violations unless it is a company that provides healthcare to its employees. But, the sharing of medical information is a violation of the ADA. A company that publically posts that an employee is having heart surgery today has committed a per se violation of the ADA.

By: Tami

Tami — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 11:37:19 +0000

It almost sounds like they are using it as an attendance tracker, not just as a calendar showing when people are planning to be out of the office. If they are marking down when people are late our out unexpected in retrospect, rather than in advance to let people know when someone is planning to be out, as a way to track attendance or shame people, that is not appropriate. “Oh, Mark was late an hour again today, let’s put that on the calendar!” That is what a personnel file is for, not a public calendar.

I also agree with putting that someone will be out of the office, but not necessarily the reason why. This could lead to crime if this calendar is exposed to the public, and everyone, including vendors, knows that Julia is in Hawaii, and her house is vacant for a week. No one needs to know that. Out of the office is good enough.

By: Nauman Ahmad

Nauman Ahmad — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 08:35:10 +0000

Agreed

However absence of an enterprise performance management software can lead to disaster . I remember a friend of mine who was using a HR Software PeopleQlik http://www.peopleqlik.com faced same issues but covered all such complaisance gaps using HR software

By: Employee

Employee — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 20:17:55 +0000

This public posting could impact safety and
security for employees’ homes and property.
You make sure that an overflowing mailbox at your house won’t indicate to potential burglars that you’re away, so it seems unwise to have this posting make that information
available to just anybody. (It’s easy for people
to obtain home addresses.) A local company experienced
theft that turned out to be done by temporary workers
hired by the after-hours cleaning crew, who had access to
material while they were in the building unsupervised
at night. There are many ways to give this information to
people who have a need to know it, without making it public.

By: Anon

Anon — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 19:42:04 +0000

Agree with Tiggergarden. Knowing who is scheduled to be late or out is useful. I worked at a place where a lot of people traveled and we started writing on our glass doors with dry erase markers “so and so in offce xyz through the 4th” so folks would know to use cell or email to find us. I can’t imagine why you would write down attendance infractions other than to embarrass somebody so it seems like that should not be posted, not because it’s illegal per se but because it’s poor form.

By: Dorothy

Dorothy — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 16:58:00 +0000

I’ve done a little casual research into HIPPA. I’m not a lawyer but it seems to me it’s at least POSSIBLE that an employer, especially if they provide or subsidize health insurance, may be subject to HIPPA laws.

Also, spreading around people’s medical information could leave the employer open to charges of unfairness of various sorts. There was a recent well-publicized case of a woman whose unborn child died in utero and she had to have an abortion. For some reason her male boss told her co-workers why she was out for a few days. The woman ended up leaving the company over the fallout from the gossip.

By: Doreen

Doreen — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 16:05:50 +0000

In reply to EO.

I’m wondering if perhaps it’s the sort of business that doesn’t have a back office area where customers/vendors don’t go. What comes to mind is most of the independent auto mechanics I’ve used but I’m sure I’ve seen it at other businesses as well- they generally have a small office area where customers provide information , drop off keys and pay but there doesn’t seem to be any other office space.