I know worker's compensation laws vary from state to state, but I have a general question for anyone involved in the HR portion of WC.

Anonymous

February 23,2024 at 1:27PM UTC

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I know worker's compensation laws vary from state to state, but I have a general question for anyone involved in the HR portion of WC. We currently have a few different employees out on WC. The office loudmouth is convinced the one claim is fake, and has made comments to this effect both in the office in full earshot of employees who are not this employee's supervisor or in any supervisor capacity whatsoever. She has also made these same statements in a private message to the employee's direct supervisor and me.

However, I sent a private message to her and another employee's direct supervisor outlining this employee's work restrictions and was immediately admonished by the office loudmouth for doing so using the private message. I have all of this very well documented. If any HR peoples can give me some direction on how you would handle this, I would appreciate it.

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AnonymousFebruary 23,2024 at 2:04PM UTC
well she sounds like a real peach! lol
AnonymousFebruary 23,2024 at 4:47PM UTC
You have no idea. One rotten peach doesn't cover her pinky toe.
AnonymousFebruary 23,2024 at 2:07PM UTC
I'm not in HR, but I am familiar with confidential communication, and PMs, either through text messaging or social media, do not qualify. This should have been handled through the standard company communication methods, which would have been company email, face-to-face, or paper memo, depending on how secure your online systems are. WC claims are confidential because they contain medical information, so the response should be for this person to stay in their lane. If they have evidence that the claim is false, they should present it through the proper channels. Then, outline the official policy for doing so.
AnonymousFebruary 23,2024 at 3:59PM UTC
The messaging system used is actually the preferred method of communication for the company, and is secure.
AnonymousFebruary 24,2024 at 3:00AM UTC
If that's the case, then the latter part of my response holds. The person should stay in their lane, and if they have evidence of WC fraud, they need to present it through the proper channels. I'm unsure how ethics are defined in HR, but check your professional ethics to see how much you can share about a person's WC accommodation agreements. You may have overstepped there.
I agree with the other poster who suggested you speak directly with the immediate supervisor since they are not in your chain of command. All of this is entirely out of their lane.
AnonymousFebruary 23,2024 at 3:33PM UTC
It's unclear what your role is in the company, but the only people who should be made aware of another employees' work restrictions are strictly need-to-know, in order to accommodate said restrictions. This is likely limited to HR and the person's direct supervisor. You shouldn't have shared about the employee's restrictions; being a nosey-body doesn't qualify as "need", so the loudmouth should not have been told anything. The loudmouth should be told in no uncertain terms to stop making unfounded accusations. If she has a legitimate concern, she's allowed to raise it, once, with HR, and then needs to mind her own business. This is not impacting her in any way, based on your post, so it's none of her concern.
AnonymousFebruary 23,2024 at 3:56PM UTC
Unfortunately, she is in the chain of need to know, or I wouldn't have. She is not the direct supervisor, but has been allowed this access by the higher ups. Therefore, I was following the protocol already established.
AnonymousFebruary 23,2024 at 8:07PM UTC
In that case, my suggestion is to ensure those higher ups are aware of what she's doing. No reasonable manager would allow her behavior to continue unchecked.