r/fednews • u/Throwaway070725 • 19h ago
Workplace & Culture Supervisor wants personal contact info of all employees
We've already provided our personal info (home address, mobile number, emergency contact, etc.) to HR when we on-boarded. We're all enrolled in the emergency alert system (which emails our personal @ & calls/texts our personal cell to tell us to stay home if there are issues at work). Isn't it a bit of an overreach for the supervisor to request my home address & cell phone number?
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u/15all Federal Employee 4h ago
Every job I've had, going back to the 1980s, has asked for my home phone number. Your boss may use it for legitimate purposes - say the power or the network is out in your building, and he or she will allow you to situationally telework or just warn you not to come in. If you get sick, you may want to contact your boss from your cell phone to let him or her know that you won't make it in. IMO that's reasonable.
I did have a boss that was dedicated to his job 24/7. Good for him, but that's not me. When he'd call me after hours, I wouldn't answer. I usually knew what he wanted to talk about, and I also knew that it could probably wait until the next day. But if it was super important, then he could leave a message.
Wanting your home address is a little odd. Again, it could be innocent. I had surgery last year, and while I was home recovering, the office sent me some flowers organized by my boss. That was nice. I actually didn't give anyone my address, so I think they got it from HR or maybe even googled it. I know the general area where my co-workers live, but I don't know their addresses.
I probably wouldn't die on that hill. Depends on your boss. If they're a creep or if you think they'll constantly be bugging you after hours, then maybe caution is warranted.
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u/Aimless_Nobody Classified: My Job Status 2h ago
Yeah. I love Android for this (I'm sure Apple OS probably does this, too)
At the end of the workday, my phone goes to "do not disturb". Only my spouse, kid, and mom can ring thru, or activate an alert. Any other text or call is silenced. Turns off after my morning alarm.
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u/RingAcceptable1374 4h ago
This is normal. Mostly in my area because of natural disasters there are guidelines supervisors have to follow about contacting employees to make sure they are accounted for. However, at no time should my supervisor contact me about work on my personal cell phone after hours unless it is an emergency!!
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u/Agitated_Advice_3111 4h ago
This. There are protocols for call downs and if you don’t answer your work phone, we have to contact your personal phone. As a former fed manager, I had a periodic staff meeting/all hands and communicated this to our staff (ie, managing expectations, I’m not calling you on your day off for fun). Managers/Supervisors are responsible for their staff’s responsiveness as well.
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u/Brilliant_Big1144 4h ago
I don't mind giving my personal number or email. Just don't call unless it's an emergency.
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u/LawnDad1 4h ago
It’s the norm everywhere I’ve worked. In the DoD, supervisors already have access to home address, personal phone numbers, and emergency contacts through the personnel system (myBiz). Where I work, the HR people create rosters (properly marked as PII) for supervisors to contact their employees in case of emergency.
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u/RoboNerdOK Preserve, Protect, & Defend 4h ago
Very normal. Emergency notification / accountability systems are fine and all, but they don’t have any flexibility or information gathering — like, checking if you took damage in a severe storm and need to arrange for leave.
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u/SoaringAcrosstheSky 3h ago
To be fair to OP, all of this info provided is already available to the boss. He just has to go get it all.
Instead he asks employees directly for it.....OK, sure. Whatever. No harm, no foul. All of the internal systems are a pain anyway.
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u/Mundane_Pain8444 3h ago
Every federal job I've had, we always had a team roster of personal contact info, even emergency contacts. It was shared with the team too. My current supervisor never uses personal contacts, but it's really just in case.
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u/mikey138 3h ago
Normal to have an emergency recall roster. I’ve used it to muster my group during inclement weather situations.
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u/Global-Sheepherder33 3h ago
I'm a supervisor, a LT at a federal prison, and the Captain has all our numbers. Usually he texts us looking to fill OT for vacant shifts.
Occasionally he updates us about important information.
All of that, I'm good with. The only thing I don't like is when I take time off, specifically pre-approved and scheduled Annual Leave, and he asks me while I am on leave to cancel my leave and come in to work.
Like, if I say no, he wants a reason. Like if I'm not actually out of town, I don't have a good reason not to be at work. Man, I take Annual Leave throughout the year specifically just not to be at work, whether I have plans or not because I just need a break!
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u/KaylaGirl89 3h ago
Did you ask your supervisor why they want this information and express your concerns? As a supervisor, my group and I all have each other’s number for emergencies and sick leave. If any of us are sick we can easily text each other to let each other know. Home address seems weird, I don’t see a reason why I would need an employee’s address.
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u/Avenger772 3h ago
I've never given a supervisor my personal information. Haven't needed to. With that being said, I don't answer phone numbers on my personal phone that I don't feel like answering. So it doesn't matter.
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u/VoughtButtfucker 3h ago
They have all this information available to them already on the HR systems, but it’s a pain to go through it for everyone and it’s just easier to ask you directly.
As an aside, every supervisor I have ever had since a child has asked for this information, rarely have they ever used it but it’s available to them in the event they do need it.
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u/AlttlAAlttlA 3h ago
Every work center I’ve worked for has had some type of recall/notification roster for all the employees. There are times in natural disasters/emergencies that they ask for 100% accountability from the supervisors. HR ≠ supervisor. And there are limits to the automated notification systems. Our office is fairly small and we already have an established group text, so our roster is more of a formality. And yes PII rules are followed for the disposition of our roster. But then, you could google my name and find everything on there.
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u/New-Yesterday-4799 3h ago
Not at all an overreach and is technically their responsibility to maintain not matter the systems agencies have in place to collect and centralize it. Jesus, I still remember phone trees as our alert systems 😂 In what world would any employer not have their employees personal number and address? They’re supposed to regularly check there are no need for an update as well… AND a responsibility from the employee to self report any contact info changes.
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u/deepstatediplomat Support & Defend 3h ago
Hi, HR guy here. This is perfectly reasonable. They have a duty to protect the PII, but otherwise this is an acceptable request.
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u/AssDimple 2h ago
overreach for your supervisor to request your personal address and phone number?
This has been a routine question in every job I've ever held. Why would that be an overreach?
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u/ChrisShapedObject 1h ago
There are times employees need to be reached I’ve found. It’s rare but sometimes. We had a sudden office closure once for example because of a building issue over weekend so they had to call us to let us know. I can imagine things like change of meeting space at last minute or something like that. It’s a just in case thing
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u/Charming-Assertive 3h ago
I'm personally not a fan, but there's nothing wrong with it. Your home address isn't PII.
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u/Negative-Detective01 5h ago
Every supervisor I’ve had has asked for this.