What would be your best first move?
You accidentally receive confidential salary information for people on your team. A colleague asks what you saw because they suspect unfairness.
The situation
You accidentally receive confidential salary information for people on your team. A colleague asks what you saw because they suspect unfairness.
Recommended Response
D. Report the accidental access to the appropriate manager or HR contact and do not share the details.
This protects confidentiality and alerts the people responsible for handling the breach.
Context matters. This is a recommendation for the situation described, not a rule for every interaction.
Explore every response
A. Tell the colleague everything because transparency is fair.
The concern may be real, but sharing confidential data can harm others and put you at risk.
B. Pretend you never received it and delete it silently.
Deleting without reporting may leave a data issue unresolved.
C. Forward it to the whole team so everyone has the same information.
This spreads the breach and could seriously damage trust and privacy.
D. Report the accidental access to the appropriate manager or HR contact and do not share the details. (Recommended)
This protects confidentiality and alerts the people responsible for handling the breach.
E. Tell the colleague you cannot discuss details, but they can raise pay fairness through proper channels.
This is a good response to the colleague, alongside reporting the accidental access.
Why is D the recommended response?
Understanding this situation
Confidential information needs proper handling. Fairness concerns do not justify spreading private data.
Another reasonable perspective
This is a useful parallel response when the colleague asks directly, but the breach still needs reporting.
Practice. Speak. Improve. — Spekero Playground
