Payslip is not protected says DPC

ddoom

I raised a question with the Data Protection Commissioner and am unhappy with the way it was handled.

Currently I am undergoing training at a certain state training agency.

My instructor/tutor is contracted in by this state training agency to give the training, but this person is also given full disclosure to my Pay Advice Slip which I found strange as this person has no reason to see this information.

I was of the opinion when I worked that is, that your Pay Slip is personal between you and your employer, and that your Pay Slip was not an open book for anyone who works in the company can have a look at.

So I raised this with the DPC.

The DPC came back to me and said that the instructor is bound by contract to protect my personal data, so it is okay for this person to see what my remuneration is, what my PPS No is, and also what additional benefits I might receive.

My point to the DPC is that this person has no need to be given this information in the first place as it is not required by them in the execution of their duties.

After receiving this response I then asked the DPC that, based on the initial response, was it then a case that all employees, whether directly employed by the state training agency or contract staff had the right to see my Pay Advice Slip and that I would want this in writing, so that I could be clear with the law pertaining to a person’s rights to privacy, because I was so wrong in believing my Pay Slip was kind of semi-confidential.

To this the DPC just said that they considered the matter closed and would not be entering into any further correspondence relating to this matter.
So based on the information I received from the DPC it appears someone attending the state training agencies facilities does not have the basic rights of privacy and all FÁS employees can if they wish gain access to your payment details.

Would like to know what people think.

Am I wrong to think that my Pay Slip is a document that should have a basic level of protection from people who do not have a need to know what it contains or is it okay for anyone to have the right to see your remuneration information.

Victor

Presumably your tutor is there to give you more than just training?

If you were earning 50 euros per week, it would be right and proper for your tutor to argue that you should receive a top-up payment from FAS (I presume). If you were earning 5,000 euros per week, it would be right and proper for your tutor to argue that you should not receive a top-up payment from FAS.

ddoom

As the remuneration is based on the Social Welfare payment I very much doubt that an instructor would have any input into what I should be receiving or not.

Normally and in my experience the only people who would have access to an employees pay slip would be people who worked in the area of payment, i.e. the finance department. A manager would in the private sector have to ask an employee for permission to see their pay slip.

So according to the answer from the DPC, anyone who works in the state training agency have the right to see a students Pay Advice Slip, this includes the Canteen Staff, all instructors, the receptionist, the janitors, etc.

So maybe I am missing something and that since I have become unemployed I have lost some of the rights I had as a Tax Payer, or maybe I have been ill informed and a persons Pay Advice slip is not personal between the employer and employee.

axer

Have you asked FAS the reason why this information is made available to instructors? Maybe there is a reason you are not thinking of.

flyingsnail

When I was last with fas the instructor would check the payslips for errors before handing them out, i.e. if you missed an hour you got docked an hour's pay or if you handed in a sick cert that the money was not deducted. He found plenty of errors, there was even a week when we all got payslips for 0.00

ddoom

Okay, so I must be wrong to expect that my financial business is my own, and that a third party contractor on a temporary contract with the state training agency has the right to access my financial records.
I never encountered such a practice in the private sector in the 30 years when I was working.
So this must be specific to the state training agency or when you become a statistic.

In the event of mistakes, these would normally be solved between the Pay Clerk and the employee, if additional information was required this would be provided to the Pay Clerk by the instructor to solve the issue, but the instructor would still not have full disclosure to a person’s financial remuneration.

I can see I am on my own in the belief that my right to privacy is being infringed upon, so I will just give up and shut up because thats the way it is whether it's right or wrong.

axer

ddoom wrote: »

Okay, so I must be wrong to expect that my financial business is my own, and that a third party contractor on a temporary contract with the state training agency has the right to access my financial records.
I never encountered such a practice in the private sector in the 30 years when I was working.
So this must be specific to the state training agency or when you become a statistic.

In the event of mistakes, these would normally be solved between the Pay Clerk and the employee, if additional information was required this would be provided to the Pay Clerk by the instructor to solve the issue, but the instructor would still not have full disclosure to a person’s financial remuneration.

I can see I am on my own in the belief that my right to privacy is being infringed upon, so I will just give up and shut up because thats the way it is whether it's right or wrong.

Have you asked FAS why they do this? Surely they would be the first port of call to find out why it is that way.