Made Redundant - Not allowed to access my stuff on the laptop

Lskjaus2015 on 24/07/2015 - 16:08
Last edited 24/07/2015 - 20:32

Hi Friends,
Today I was made redundant while I was on leave. I work ( worked ) for an Software consultancy company. They say they have locked my account and I can't access my laptop even physically on Monday. I had my personal data and emails which I wanted to get and then delete. They say they can send me what folders or data I need and courier me in USB drive.
I said if I had been on work , I would have copied and deleted the same but since I am not at work, I cannot know every single folder and which I had created.
They say its an contractual agreement working in consultancy company

Is this a breach of privacy law that I cannot access my stuff ? Do I have any rights if so whom can I approach.

Thanks you all for the responses. You guys have been terrific. Based on the responses, I can't do much and I am thinking to let it go.
I had taken a backup of my laptop 6 months ago on a portable drive and can live with it whatever less it is.
We all have so much stuff everywhere on USB's, Portable hard drives not sure we even look back to it.
Anyway, lesson learnt. if you keep anything personal on your work laptop, always take a copy/backup on your personal hard drive.
Forget about the payslips, money earned and spent.

Education & Work

Comments

  • pyramid on 24/07/2015 - 16:14
    +2

    Is this a breach of privacy law that I cannot access my stuff ? Do I have any rights if so whom can I approach.
    I don't think so. Ideally people do not store their personal information on company laptop.

    Few questions though:
    1) Where is your work laptop? with you or with company?
    2) If laptops is with you, did you try to login with your credentials?
    3) Can you not visit your workplace on Monday and complete data transfer or formalities. I suspect email copy may not be allowed as it may contain confidential information that you had been communicated by your client or business.

    • skjaus2015 on 24/07/2015 - 16:24

      The laptop is at the office. I am guessing they will remove the laptop from my desk so that I cannot access it.
      In the emails I had the salary slips for the last 4 years.

  • inherentchoice on 24/07/2015 - 16:19

    They won't be required to comply with the Privacy Act 1988 if their turnover is under $3 million.

    But if their turnover is above $3 million, you can request your own personal information under APP12. You can read APP12 here:

    http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-resources/privacy-fac…

    …so apparently they have 30 days to get back to you and if they refuse access then they must give you a written notice with the reasons, and your appeal rights.

    Anyway maybe try see if you can get it from them informally before you go down a legal-type path.

    Ultimately if you believe they are in breach of privacy then you could make a complaint to OAIC.

    • pyramid on 24/07/2015 - 16:25

      My guess is OP wants his personal data that was stored on laptop provided by his company or client. For example OP's personal photographs or resume or income tax calculation. Do you think Privacy Act 1988 cover it?

      • inherentchoice on 24/07/2015 - 16:35

        Yes (assuming the company has over $3m turnover).

        12.1 If an APP entity holds personal information about an individual, the entity must, on request by the individual, give the individual access to the information.

        • pyramid on 24/07/2015 - 16:42
          +1

          I guess there are two types of information:

          1) Information requested by APP eg. name, address, bank details etc. And APP will be responsible to store this information as per data privacy policies and laws. And this fits into 12.1.

          2) Information that is stored by person on company laptop etc. I suspect such information is not be covered by APP nor APP will be responsible for such information.

        • inherentchoice on 24/07/2015 - 17:03

          @cniminc:

          What is covered by privacy

          The Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) regulates how personal information is handled. The Privacy Act defines personal information as:

          …information or an opinion, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

          Source: http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/what-is-covered-by-privacy

  • [Deactivated] on 24/07/2015 - 16:22

    At the end of the day, if it's a work supplied laptop, you can't do anything.

    Now you could try and reason with them that you want to point out what important files are where (for them) and also retrieve your personal files. That way there's actually something in it for them…

    • skjaus2015 on 24/07/2015 - 16:30

      Correct . its company's laptop.
      They have agreed to copy the files which I require but I cannot remember the all the directories as I have been working there for 4 yrs but they are not allowing me the access the laptop physically on Monday.
      Looks like I have to ask them to copy the whole C drive and send it across .
      Also , I had emails which had my salary slips.

      • Davo1111 on 24/07/2015 - 16:35
        +2

        Looks like I have to ask them to copy the whole C drive and send it across .

        I think they'd laugh you out the door.

        Also , I had emails which had my salary slips.

        From yourself? or your companies accountant?

        Just write a list of all the emails you want

        • emails and attachments from x email address
        • emails and attachments from x folder.
        • skjaus2015 on 24/07/2015 - 16:43

          may be I can ask them to list the folders on C drive and they I can choose which I want to be copied.

          Salary slips were from the company's accountant.

          "Just write a list of all the emails you want

          emails and attachments from x email address
          emails and attachments from x folder."

          bit of a hard task to ask. No visibility

        • Davo1111 on 24/07/2015 - 16:50

          @skjaus2015:

          Then ask them to export the emails as a CSV and delete all columns but to/from/date/subject/attachment name/folder name/etc. Then you can send a list back

          The thing is, they cut you out so you can't copy everything [and ruin everything]. So they're not just going to give you free reign after they've made that decision.

          (I'm not implying you would delete/destroy everything if given the chance, but that's what they've decided to do as part of your redundancy)

  • dragonfly090 on 24/07/2015 - 16:45
    +9

    if it is work laptop, by rule you cant store personal data and if you have done so they have no obligation to give you the data.. I would say if they are giving you it is out of good will.

  • DealzEddy123 on 24/07/2015 - 16:56
    +1

    You shouldn't have saved your personal salary slips onto your work laptop.

    You should be able to access it online or they can email them to you.

    Nothing on that laptop belongs to you.

    • skjaus2015 on 24/07/2015 - 17:03
      +1

      We receive our salary slips via email ( company's email).
      Technically, they can email me all my salary slips from the Payroll system.

      Agreed. Physically the laptop belongs to the company but the software could be both company's and personal.Bit of a grey area I reckon.

      • DealzEddy123 on 24/07/2015 - 17:09
        +10

        no, the software is not personal.
        When working for the company using any company property, any intellectual property (including any information and data) belongs to the company.

        So it is NOT a breach of privacy because it isn't "your" stuff.

        It's their stuff.

  • tonyjzx on 24/07/2015 - 17:38
    +9

    You made a deadly mistake. I never store anything a work computer.

    I have often rather used my own computer rather than their 'free' computer.

    Now you see why a free work computer isnt really free.

    • airzone on 26/07/2015 - 21:08

      Heh, it's a ploy to get you to take work home and be always available for 'free'.

  • Lequ83 on 24/07/2015 - 17:57

    Why not ask if you can have supervised access?
    I presume their concern is with you taking company information elsewhere.

    • skjaus2015 on 24/07/2015 - 17:58

      I asked the same. They denied.
      I agree that its all to do with the confidentiality.

  • whooah1979 on 24/07/2015 - 18:21
    +2

    I find it a bit strange that you're more worried about your pay slips rather than being made redundant. Were you planning on leaving the company and joining a competitor, and taking their data with you in the process? Did they find out and that's perhaps why they're playing hardball?

    • skjaus2015 on 24/07/2015 - 18:37
      +1

      The reason I am worried about my Payslips is they belong to me and want to make sure they do not have access to any other person even the IT guy who would takeover my laptop.
      I was thinking of exporting my mail in pst file and then deleting the stuff.
      I am not joining their competitor and all this happened so quickly as the company had lost bid for few projects and some of the staff including me were on the bench for some time.

      • pyramid on 24/07/2015 - 18:45

        Cg or Accent?

      • DealzEddy123 on 24/07/2015 - 23:15
        +1

        IT guy would follow a process to clear your drive.

        and your company has access to your payslips anyway. a payslip is not personal to you. It is a document between your company (and its staff) and you

  • Fishfinger on 24/07/2015 - 18:57
    -3

    They must really hate you….

    • Davo1111 on 24/07/2015 - 19:18

      apparently its getting more common now, particularly the cost to recover damaged data.

      • pyramid on 24/07/2015 - 19:21

        And liabilities and court cases arise from damaged or lost data.

  • pikapika on 24/07/2015 - 19:51
    +1

    You've probably signed or agreed to something somewhere down the track that allows them to do what they're doing and you've got no rights. Where I worked there was all these rules on the start up screen and you'd have to 'agree' to it everytime..In that it'd rabbit on about it's their property and not yours.

    Rule of thumb never put anything personal on a work laptop/computer. If they can send you the payslips then just get them to do it. Seems like they really don't have to give you anything but they're doing that…I wouldn't try and push your luck (Not trying to sound harsh either but it's their rules).

  • try2bhelpful on 24/07/2015 - 21:46
    +4

    Time to go through my emails and backup my stuff. Best of luck in your next job.

  • tonyjzx on 25/07/2015 - 07:57

    I remember this one time my contract ended and it was my last day there. Now to be honest everyone there was quite okay. Not terrible people.

    As I was packing up someone from outside the company, an auditor saw me pack up a laptop and put it my my bag and whatever. So they ask me if it was mine and I said, yep, check serials if you want… and I walked out with the data on the laptop intact and they didnt have the legal authority to even look at what was on the hdd.

    Sweet as.

  • shannonn54 on 25/07/2015 - 09:06
    +1

    @OP
    Lesson learn't for next job, backup to an external drive daily I guess? But the more important thing is wishing you success in finding/starting a new job before the savings runs out and bills pile up.
    God Bless,
    Shannon

    • skjaus2015 on 26/07/2015 - 05:11
      +1

      Thanks Shanon. Really need at this point of time.
      IT market is tough in Australia unless you have the latest skills ( and experience !!).
      Moreover, companies are outsourcing to India,Philipines to cut cost and even this company I worked had bought a company in India and
      started offshore development.

      • Donaldhump on 25/02/2016 - 00:06

        yep and they will be total rubbish

  • T1OOO on 26/07/2015 - 00:02

    Work PC/laptop = work stuff ONLY.

  • [Deactivated] on 26/07/2015 - 00:31
    -4

    Ever heard of a Printer? Terrific invention.

    • Scrooge McDuck on 26/07/2015 - 13:38

      So was the typewriter.

      • [Deactivated] on 26/07/2015 - 13:52
        +1

        Hey dont knock the typewriter. Its still useful if you dont want to leave a digital footprint :)

        Oh, and dont forget to burn the carbon ribbon as well hahahahaha

        • BuyoTheCat on 26/07/2015 - 19:41
          +1

          love type writer. so much fun and anguish.
          opps mistake. its ok. backspace, type over, backspace, type over, back space, type over. Yup. all good.

          "DING". almost end of line.

        • [Deactivated] on 27/07/2015 - 10:40

          @BuyoTheCat: Oh, the memories doing my uni assignments

  • exonerate on 26/07/2015 - 02:05

    Hey OP, what was the basis of your employment relationship ? I.e. is there a contract of employment/are you hired as a casual/part-timer/full-timer because generally there should have been some period of notice regarding termination (there are a few exceptions).

    • skjaus2015 on 26/07/2015 - 05:15

      Full timer.
      Yes they have given be pay instead of 3 wks of notice.
      In a way its good. Once you are told that the position is redundant, you don't feel like going back to the company.

      • what on 26/07/2015 - 13:43

        I know that this is not responding to your concern but I always thought that you cannot get rid of an employee whilst they are on leave. I might be wrong though.

  • Scrooge McDuck on 26/07/2015 - 08:13
    +3

    They say they can send me what folders or data I need and courier me in USB drive.

    So ask for C:\, D:\, E:\, etc. less anything sensitive.

    • Miami Mall Alien on 26/07/2015 - 12:08
      +1

      You don't even need to ask for a copy of an entire local drive (they may see that as pushing it anyway); all you need to ask for is the entire User Profile folder of your domain account under C:\Users\YourUserName typically.
      This is of course assuming your workplace used a Windows Server environment with Vista/7/8 as the default client OS. With XP it'll be under C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName.

      That'll have everything (Desktop/Documents/Pictures/Music/AppData) including your Outlook mail profile's .OST file (under C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook) so you'll be able to have the entire contents of your work mailbox as you left it (even if they've deleted your Exchange mailbox on the server) including all of your mail folders (Inbox/Sent/Deleted), your calendar and contacts; you can use an .OST to .PST converter to open it.

      Unless you were one of those people who likes to make extra folders in the root of C: or on some other local drive (which I see a lot), then yeah, you might need to ask for additional folders, but really, most of the critical stuff is going to be in your User Profile folder.

      • rompastompa on 26/07/2015 - 19:54

        I doubt you'd be able to get the profile\ost database as it would include company data, contacts etc. The company will only give out specific personal data only.

  • cryptos on 26/07/2015 - 10:40

    So your notice period is 3 weeks not 4? You must get a termination payslip outlining any owing holiday pay as well.

    Hopefully you have enough pay to allow a little break before hitting the job market

    • airzone on 26/07/2015 - 12:09

      I always thought redundancy was legally 4 weeks… Even if the company notice period was only 2.

  • airzone on 26/07/2015 - 12:08
    +1

    I'm an IT manager and can give you some insight into this from the other side..

    It's nice of them to give you the chance to specify the data to retrieve. I'd probably entertain this, but I wouldn't put in very much effort. Everything they give you will be examined to ensure it's not company specific. You'll never get access to the laptop, nor will they give you a copy of the drive. This is because:
    1. You might take a copy of company data to a competitor
    2. You might damage company data or systems
    Bear in mind that you're a terminated employee, and quite often they are not happy about it.. So it's a legitimate business risk.

    Chances are the laptop will be archived (and maybe a cursory removal of personal stuff on it will happen), and the laptop will be wiped. Your ex-manager / HR / etc will have access to it, and probably won't give a shit about your pay slips.

    The IT policy will be splattered with not using company equipment for personal use, and that any data created on company systems is company property. Also, there will be bits about not expecting privacy while using company systems.

    In addition, they may be industry specific regulations… If I caught someone taking an image copy of their laptop hard disk for "personal backup", I'd have them sacked. In my last company, a staff member was summarily dismissed for allowing a family member to use their laptop. And in another company in the same industry (in Australia), a staff member was jailed for giving company data to a 3rd party. As I said, industry specific regulation, and you're lucky to not be in such a harshly protective industry.

    • [Deactivated] on 26/07/2015 - 13:42

      How would you know they made the image? Would you ask a judge to issue a search warrant for their home. Get real. Sure some methods leave a trace, but if you know what you are doing nobody would ever know (unless youre stupid enough to show it to a 3rd party)

      • airzone on 26/07/2015 - 18:04
        +1

        Encrypted disk with tamper evident seal helps. We drum into people the repercussions of incorrectly handling the data and put enough technical blocks in place to stop the average punter and alert us of any attempts. Does it work? Enough that I have had to refer a few people to HR.

  • [Deactivated] on 26/07/2015 - 13:37

    No pr*n? Just kidding!

    I disagree with above comments that you have no rights. The pc is theirs but your personal data is yours. A good analogy would be if you had a jumper in a locker at work. The locker belongs to them but they have to return your jumper.

    Very long time ago I had work laptop, and I made 'ghost' images of the whole drive regularly for exactly this reason. Never needed it though. I guess too late in this case.

  • [Deactivated] on 26/07/2015 - 13:48

    Ok one more comment… Dont stress about pay slips

    By law they have to keep financial records for 7 years and you should ask them for copies. If youre nice enough they will give them to you

  • supbah on 26/07/2015 - 15:18

    What I do is that I store my personal stuff that I use from work like payslips etc, on my cloud storage account. Google drive/Dropbox/one drive etc.
    Good compromise imo between having personal stuff accessible at work but not actually storing it on a work owned device

  • hahaboy on 26/07/2015 - 16:33

    Best of luck with finding a new role.

  • Kempe on 26/07/2015 - 18:48

    Your employer seems pretty nasty were you definately redundant and not sacked?

    • skjaus2015 on 26/07/2015 - 18:53

      The company is going thru a lean period. Around 7 people were made redundant in 2 offices in Australia and some were made redundant in overseas offices.

      • [Deactivated] on 26/07/2015 - 23:04
        +1

        Doesn't explain the nastiness

        • tonyjzx on 28/07/2015 - 15:16

          Is it nasty though? If the company has paid your dues then what is the obligation?

          Get your payslips some other way?

          Why would a company let you touch their property after you left?

          Most companies are faceless so its not like as if they're out to 'get you' by denying you access to their laptop.

          I'll give you another example. I had someone leave and they were a great employee who got along well with everyone.

          He called us up and asked us if he could get some info off his laptop. It was just some contacts. I retrieved it for him and emailed it to him.

          If he actually came in and handled his laptop without supervision I'd probably get the sack.

  • gstfree on 26/07/2015 - 21:38

    The person who make troubles get better redundancy packages.

  • scrimshaw on 26/07/2015 - 22:54

    Former It monkey here. Worked for edu institute helpdesk. I'm usually the person in charge of wiping / DBAN'ning decommissioned systems and returned staff laptops.

    Hopefully your laptop is actually wiped before it's given to somebody else.

  • Smigit on 02/08/2015 - 17:27

    "I had taken a backup of my laptop 6 months ago on a portable drive and can live with it whatever less it is."

    Best make sure that doesn't contain any work made on their time, and if it does that they at least don't find out. They probably won't look fondly if you have copies of their IP, however trivial it may seem. That includes work emails, along with documents and the like.

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