‘That is a complete violation of my privacy’: Boss spies on employee on sick leave to make sure he is actually sick and not on vacation

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Mar 16, 2024 9:00 AM EDT

It might be hard to come to terms with the concept, but there should be total and complete trust between a manager and their employees. If a manager is unable to trust that their employees are there to do the best they can, then maybe managing is not the best thing for them. Not to say there aren't any employees who take advantage of a job, but if an employee feels like they are not trusted and are being observed with every step they take, they are definitely not going to stay at that job for long.

Especially when it comes to taking sick days. Of course, there are employees who take sick days even when they are not sick, but that doesn't give employers the excuse to come to their employees' homes and check for themselves, which is pretty much what the boss in this Reddit story did. The boss thought that her employee took sick days just so he could go on vacation with another employee, which led her to think it was a good idea to go to that person's house and spy on them. Is that even legal?

Scroll down to read the full story. When you finish with this one, click here to read a story about a demanding hotel guest who tried to lie to get a clerk fired.

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  • 01
    "That is a complete violation of my privacy"
    via Canva
  • 02
    While I was off sick my boss drove to my home to check I wasn't on holiday with my colleague who was with her boyfriend in Spain.
    via u/Matteblackandgrey
  • 03
    I was off sick with cluster migraines and I saw my boss outside my house in her car - she has a very distinct car so I immediately recognised it.
    via u/Matteblackandgrey
  • 04
    Since we live in a very remote place which she would have no reason to visit and our street is a dead end I was fairly sure this wasn't a coincidence as she
    via u/Matteblackandgrey
  • 05
    would have no reason to drive down it. My friend works in HR so I asked her when I returned to work to try and find out why my boss did it
    via u/Matteblackandgrey
  • 06
    and they told me my boss was convinced I was sleeping with my colleague and we had gone on holiday together.
    via u/Matteblackandgrey
  • 07
    I'm very happily married and my colleague is in a long term relationship.
    via u/Matteblackandgrey
  • 08
    Pretty stunned that she thought it was acceptable to play private detective and drive to my home when I was off sick with a Dr note.
    via u/Matteblackandgrey
  • 09
    She has no basis for this paranoia, I have very low sickness and my work performance is top of my discipline. Is this allowed legally?
    via u/Matteblackandgrey
  • 10
    doosher2000k ⚫ 22 hr. ago I would have taken a photo of her car and left it on her desk
    via u/doosher2000k
  • 11
    Matteblackandgrey OP .22 hr. ago I think I was in shock and initially thought I was being paranoid
    via u/Matteblackandgrey
  • 12
    yoortyyo 20 hr. ago J stalking and call it out. Wasting company time and resources what? Time theft kn the clock?
    via u/yoortyyo
  • 13
    Someidiot666-1 - 17 hr. ago File a complaint with hr and ask for the company policy regarding verifying if someone is lying about calling out sick. Cc your boss and ask for
    via u/Someidiot666-1
  • 14
    clarification that her actions were acceptable by the company. Bonus points for detailing you being woken up by a neighbor calling you to report someone snooping on your property.
    via u/Someidiot666-1
  • 15
    SubstantialPressure3 · 17 hr. ago I'll bet she was getting paid while she was doing that, too.
    via u/SubstantialPressure3
  • 16
    Ok-Click-558. 4 hr. ago Seriously! If you need someone to work sooooo bad, why is it better to stalk them than to do it yourself????
    via u/Ok-Click-558
  • 17
    Oghamstoner · 23 hr. ago Certainly proves your boss doesn't have anything more important to do.
    via u/Oghamstoner
  • 18
    Cleverusernamexxx · 14 hr. ago • Exactly, if it's a big company HR might be interested in knowing they have time to do insane stuff like that, especially if the same manager is having any kind of performance issues.
    via u/Cleverusernamexxx
  • 19
    Allied R2 19 hr. ago • There may be some stalking laws that might come into effect here.
    via u/AlliedR2
  • 20
    BrokenVirtue 14 hr. ago How does your boss have you address? That is confidential and HR can not share that info unless it's an emergency (which this clearly wasn't).
    via u/BrokenVirtue
  • 21
    Matteblackandgrey OP. 14 hr. ago She asked HR for it, that's how my friend in HR knew she had done it
    via u/Matteblackandgrey
  • 22
    BrokenVirtue 14 hr. ago You should post what country you're from so someone can help you out with the laws, as what your boss did is certainly illegal in some countries.
    via u/BrokenVirtue
  • 23
    Evening-Turnip8407 17 hr. ago That's just the extra bit of dedication and passion that warrants the fat check a boss deserves <3 /s
    via u/Evening-Turnip8407
  • 24
    hesh582 9 hr. ago To directly answer your question, because this sub can be a really bad place for legal advice (even by the low standards of online legal advice forums):
    via u/hesh582
  • 25
    Yes, this was legal. It's not a grey area. To address a few of the other posts in here:
    via u/hesh582
  • 26
    "Harassment" requires an ongoing pattern of behavior, typically, and usually also involves some sort of harm or fear of harm. Harassment in the UK requires a "course of conduct", meaning at least two
    via u/hesh582
  • 27
    incidents. A single incident cannot be harassment by definition. The "alarm or distress" requirement also requires more than being annoyed by your boss a bit at home.
    via u/hesh582
  • 28
    If your boss came to your home every day while you were sick, maybe we're verging on harassment. Especially if she did more than drive by and stop for a minute.
    via u/hesh582
  • 29
    "Stalking" takes both of those requirements and dials them up even further. Stalking usually involves a legitimate and serious fear for your personal safety. It's a very
    via u/hesh582
  • 30
    serious crime reflecting very serious conduct. It's not even on the same planet as this petty Your boss drove to a public place and looked around. That's completely legal.
    via u/hesh582
  • 31
    It's also really obnoxious of course, but there's a lot of really obnoxious behavior that's perfectly legal.
    via u/hesh582
  • 32
    Matteblackandgrey OP. 8 hr. ago This seems to be the most - rational take my conclusion too was that this event hasn't broken any laws but it has broken my willingness to work here so I shall be applying for other roles and leaving asap.
    via u/Matteblackandgrey

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boss workplace-stories employee manager sick day tales-from-the-workplace work reddit story toxic-boss workplace sick Reddit illegal weird entitled people
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