Any HR people? Feeling in a fix and also venting a bit

MillersXing

So I asked my HR lady (as in singular, and she is not a real employee, she's a contractor) about my company's maternity policy. And yeah, I am pregnant, although I wasn't planning on telling work until AFTER Christmas.

But my CW quit and it will just be me running a client and a ton of stress.(BTW, they have no intention of promoting me, I'm just supposed to suck it up and do the work of 3 people in the mean time until they maybe bring someone in the next month. Maybe. No big whoop.) 

HR Lady said that by telling her, I have told the company and she can now tell my boss and everyone here. I'm only 9 weeks and wanted to wait until 12 which isn't far away. HR Lady says I have put her in an uncomfortable position and she is obligated to tell. (Which I already think she has because she ran to my boss's office and shut the door.) She will give me until my first appointment with the OB which is Monday. And then she flat out asked if I planned to come back!

Isn't there some kind of confidential thing they have to follow? Isn't it MY body and MY baby and I get to say when I'm comfortable telling? 

And have I mentioned how much I despise this place? I feel like I'm through the looking glass "Alice in Wonderland" every single day here, but without the drug references. 

lindyanne

I'm not in HR but I know my company has a strict confidentiality policy. That would be totally out of line.

bridz2be

WHAT? This post is coming at a bad time for me, after spending the afternoon on the phone with HR myself due to some "miscommunications". Yeah - I tried asking HR these questions 4 months ago when I filled out my maternity leave paperwork and now you're changing your information! Arg

Anyway, she must respect your confidentiality. She isn't in an uncomfortable situation besides being unable to control herself with gossip. She has no obligation to tell anyone at your workplace. Her only obligation is to help you understand your FMLA rights, leave policy, etc.

I know I'm hormonal right now, but this makes me so angry.

Cortney81

From what I understand, HR in general is your department you go to that is suppose to be the most confidential.  I think it sounds more like she whats to spread the gossip more than anything!  I know our HR department is VERY confidential. 

fxz109

Wow.  Just wow.

I've come to learn that HR isn't necessarily for the employees benefit.  It's to cover the company's @ss. 

aHm08

Who is this person's supervisor?  Because if I were you, I'd want that person to be aware of how I was treated and how my privacy was violated.

jasonlovessara

wow!  I wish I had an answer for you.... before I had the babies I was friendly with my HR director (we hung out) and she knew that I was not coming back and respected my wishes and did not tell my boss.  I know she was not breaking any rules by not passing this information on, I would have not put her in that situation.  Your HR person is being a *** and I am sorry that she is putting you in that situations.

TheLinkBride

Yikes!  I'm so sorry.  That does not seem right to me at all.  I would try to file a complaint after you are ready to let everyone know that you are pregnant.  I'm sorry you are going through that.

gmk1784

I'm in a semi-HR related field and it does sound like she's out of line. The only reason she would have an obligation to tell your boss is if you aren't be able to perform your job duties anymore.  And she may be violating HIPAA by giving others information you wish to keep private.

K-hart

I'm in HR and specifically work with benefits and labor law, so I can probably help!

 Here, at my company, we have a HR confidentiality statement as apart of our personnel policy. In addition to that, HR should be the place you can go if you have questions, and yes, all questions should be 100% confidential.

Now, let's talk about law. According to LAW, you only have to notify your employer of an FMLA event 30 days prior to the event itself. Then a process happens where you officially complete the FMLA request and then HR will decide if this FMLA request is approved or not. The FMLA law includes some legal verbage that give your the right to take FMLA for "incapacity due to pregnancy or child birth", So right there, if you are pregnant and have been with the company for the alloted time to be eligible for FMLA, you will automatically be covered under the FMLA law.

HIPPA is a little different. HIPPA stands for "Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act". Which basically meansit's about the privacy of medical and health information. More specifically, how this information is procesed, protected and handeled by health care plans and health care providers. Now, I would say that her (the HR person) telling your supervisor about your pregnancy is in violation of HIPPA, although it's hard to say because the labor laws are very vague and open to interpretation. But because your company "should" be covered by HIPPA, she should have to follow the same privacy rules.

I would refer back to your personnel policy and handbook for the best answers on this. At any rate, this HR person sounds like a joke. She sounds like she's on a power trip and and good HR person would provide you with the tools you need and keep the information confidential.

 I know this is long, and probably boring, but I hope it helps?

 

K-hart

One more thing to add....

 You HR person CAN let your supervisor know that you will be going out on leave, but she can't tell her WHY (like your medical condition, etc). Honestly, when FMLA in involved their should be NO communicationbetween you and your supervisor. This protects your rights under HIPPA and it also protects the company. Any and all communications should be between you and your HR person only. You HR person has the responsability of letting the supervisor know when you will be on leave and for how long/or expected date of return from leave but can NEVER, EVER say "why".