Importance of Confidentiality at Work

Confidentiality is of paramount importance. It is the employee's responsibility to treat all the information in the workplace with care and caution. An employee should be prudent enough not to disclose any information that the organization considers sensitive and confidential, to a third party, unless and until the employee has consulted and taken permission from his supervisor regarding the same. Also, one should refrain from sharing any personal details with fellow colleagues at work. This helps to maintain a professional attitude at work.

An employee should know what files or materials he is permitted to access in the office and he should adhere to that. Under no circumstances should these files be shared or given to unauthorized people. This is because if it reaches the wrong hands, it can be considered as a breach of confidentiality and the employee may even be dismissed for it. Also, employees should not discuss any business dealings with the clients, outside work.

As far as the employer is concerned, any personal or professional details of employees should be handled with prudence. Data related to the personal details of an employee, applications forms, references, health data, salary structure should be kept well under wraps because if they are misused, it can lead to discrimination in the workplace. Only staff members of the HR department who require the data for certain purposes should be given access to the personal files of employees.

Maintaining confidentiality is important for varied reasons. The client or the customer can file legal suits against the organization if they feel that some secret information regarding them have been revealed by the organization or its employees. This can have negative repercussions on the business's reputation as well. So it becomes very important for the employees as well as the organization to protect information in the workplace.

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Titany answered the question on November 8, 2021 at 12:17