If my employer loses an employee’s pay slips are they in breach of ID theft or data protection? Matthew Whelan and Esther Smith advise.
The question:
A member of staff was away on leave and the payslips (two months worth) were given to the line manager while they were away. When this person asked for these they have simply said they can’t find them. Is this a data protection issue – what if they have been stolen?
Legal advice:
Matthew Whelan, solicitor, Speechly Bircham
This could be a data protection issue. The Data Protection Act 1998 aims to protect the use and distribution of personal data. ‘Personal data’ is data from which an individual can be identified, which will include your payslip as this states your name, address, national insurance number etc.
If there has been a breach and you wish to complain about it, the authority to turn to is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is the body responsible for protecting the privacy of your data. The ICO will however only look into your complaint if you have contacted your employer about the problem first and the issue remains unresolved. You should be aware that you will not obtain any compensation through the ICO. Its aim is to advise/order organisations to amend their practices. It would be my recommendation, therefore, that your first step is to raise the issue with your employer to see if you can get some comfort and resolve your concerns that way.
Identity theft will be an issue if the information on your payslip has been appropriated and used to illegally obtain goods or services in your name. If you think this is a risk, this is a criminal matter and should be reported to the police.
Your employer is legally obliged to give you an itemised payslip. So, for the completeness of your own records, you could ask your employer to reissue the payslips.
Matthew Whelan can be contacted at matthew.whelan@speechlys.com. For further information, please visit www.speechlys.com.
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Esther Smith, partner, Thomas Eggar
The employee would not have a claim under data protection unless there has been some deliberate misuse of personal information contained in that statement, but it does not appear that this is the case.
Esther Smith is a partner in Thomas Eggar’s Employment Law Unit. For further information, please visit Thomas Eggar.
One Response
Don’t sweat it!
The employee is entitled to ask for copy payslips. The employer is obliged to provide them. End of Story…
‘What if they have been stolen?’ What if they have simply been mislaid? It does happen sometimes, unfortunately; proving that something nefarious is going on would be the only way to demonstrate otherwise.