Should I fess up to a mistake I made over a year ago?

I wanted to also mention she does have the same access to view social security numbers and addresses if she wanted to. She might have access to everyone’s salary as well but not able to pull it as a full on report. I can at the click of a couple buttons versus she will look up each person individually.

First of all she is a professional in the HR department. If what you did was so wrong, she would have reported you back then or at the very least, called and told you of your mistake.
You now know you shouldn’t have done that, but it’s okay because the other person realized and fixed it for you.
It was no big deal. Simple error and it was fixed. Do not tell anyone. There is no reason to tell. Please just relax and give yourself a break.

Sounds to me like it would ease your mind to mention it, and I would not expect it to actually be an issue either way, although I suppose that comes down to how reasonable your workplace and its people are.

It seems ridiculous to think you’d lose your job for a no-damage mistake made a year ago as a new person… though I got a job in HR once, and it lasted one day and I never found out exactly why.

I think don’t mention it. I used to always tell every time I caught a mistake of mine, but now I think it isn’t always necessary. It’s so long ago, and it’s not like someone else is in trouble for getting blamed for something you did. I would never let someone get in trouble for my mistake. She works in HR, you were new, you did nothing purposefully wrong. Everyone makes mistakes, and I remember your job had a very big learning curve. This is no federal offense, it’s just a company thing.

If you can’t live with yourself not confessing then go ahead. I can’t imagine you would get reprimanded for something so long ago.

It would make me feel even better if I can confirm she had access to salaries anyway if she looked it up individually which I think she does. We have class together and sit next to each other to study and help each other out so I’ll thank her again with much appreciation and find out. I’m lucky that it was sent to her though since she is the Hr connection between the other building since we aren’t ever there and that we are “work friends”.

Still feels crappy though and I can’t believe I did that. Now I’m always super careful whenever I do send information and check everything three times but back then I was new to all the tools. Hopefully no one finds out.

@chelle21689 Don’t hate yourself, please.
There’s never reason to do that, and especially not over a simple human mistake.
The worst that could have happen then was that your colleague had deemed it unforgivable and had you fired.
But that didn’t happen, she hasn’t even mentioned it, even while she could have (easier) since you see each other outside of work.
The best thing that could have come out of this is that you learn(ed) from it.
And that’s exactly what you did, hence ”Now I’m always super careful whenever I do send information and check everything three times….”
So take @chyna‘s advice at heart: Relax and give yourself a break.

To whom would you confess? And upon telling them, wouldn’t you saddle them with the decision on whether or not to advance the process of disciplining you and your friend? How would your company benefit from the revelation? And lastly, why on earth would you list such a sensitive mistake on an OPEN FORUM?

I haven’t listed a company name. So I figure it be ok to get some advice.

I would follow @chyna ‘s advice and not mention it. There is no point. You learned from the mistake and it will not happen again.
Rest easy.

Forget it and move on. It no longer matters.

No blood, no foul.
If you make a mess, you should clean it up—but I don’t see any mess to clean up here.
I agree with reasoning of those who say don’t mention it.

Nobody is dying. Forget it.

Do not bring attention to it. Every body makes mistakes, especially in the beginning. If you were going to be fired you would have been fired a year ago. Do NOT bring attention back to it.

I’d not mention it. Maybe she even knows you did it but it wasn’t worth her mentioning at the time.

Well, the OP did say I saw that there were hidden tabs with that personal information and immediately called her and asked her if she had saved it anywhere else and if she could delete it. She said she deleted the tabs and assured me everything will be fine. So I think she knows.

Let’s look at it this way. If you disclosed this info you might not only be screwing yourself. But the person you sent the info to. They should have reported your mistake. That is assuming this is actually a issue anyone would care about.

It has been a year. Nobody was hurt. Nobody needs to know.

Thanks everyone. I should feel ashamed but only for a while and not do it again. I’ve always made sure to triple check and learn from mistakes. I’m smarter than I was then.

I just got done with class we sat together. She said to me to not worry that it’s completely gone. She said she would never do that because on her first few days she made a similar mistake at another job where vacation time was exposed and someone immediately went to her boss and got her in trouble when she was learning the tools so she knew how it felt. I guess she would be the best person to accidentally send to but it’ will be hanging over my head for a while and I owe her big time.

So proud to “know” someone with such high standards. You are a fantastic employee and friend.

It sounds like the cat is already out of the bag. But it wouldn’t hurt to fess up about what happened to cover your backside, just in case…
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
“Honesty is always the best policy.”
“Better late than never.”

But it was over a year ago. They caught it then @kritiper.

They should have. But, then, “Never assume anything.”

They did. Read the 4th paragraph in the details

No. I wouldn’t worry about it.

They didn’t, she did. Big difference!

@kritiper the “She” is the HR person she sent the file to.

I saw that there were hidden tabs with that personal information and immediately called her and asked her if she had saved it anywhere else and if she could delete it. She said she deleted the tabs and assured me everything will be fine.

Yes but the others in the upper echelon are the ones who should be told, fessed up to. Don’t trust the “she” who deleted the tabs to be the only one told/trusted. The question is about this “she” who deleted the tabs and some other group of people who might be fessed up to.

The “she” who deleted the tabs is HR person she sent it to. If it is a problem the HR person, of all people, would have told her when it happened, and it would have been her responsibility (the HR person) to inform her superiors.

@chelle21689 am I misunderstanding this? Does the HR person you sent it to know about the mistake? I mean, she deleted the tabs that shouldn’t have been sent, right and it’s not a problem, right?

She is not technically in the HR department, she is HR liaison/representative for us there because we aren’t located there so parts of her duties include onboarding, interviewing, gathering paperwork and benefits and just sending them to me to input. This is for everyone in her building. She knows about the mistake because I told her to delete it and she said she did and it isn’t anywhere else. It isn’t a problem if no one knows about it lol but it is a problem where it shouldn’t happen again. I’m just now getting over the sick to my stomach feeling.

I feel for you @chelle21689. Making mistakes make me sick too. But honey, it’s OK. It’ really is. No one is perfect. If it really was a huge problem the person would have reported you.

I’m a bit confused what kritiper and everyone is going back and forth on lol.

Ah, @chelle21689 , I thought it was just me.~

I think we aren’t sure whether or not that your mistake is already known and therefore there is nothing to confess to.

To me, when @chelle21689 said the person has the same access to the information that she does, just not in a report, but she’d have to do individual clicks, that was enough to tell me that this person having this info wasn’t that big of a deal.

Those are my thoughts too. And of all the people to make a mistake on HR would be the worst, IMO. That’s what @kritiper and I are going back and forth. He suspects no one knows. I say they do already know. If it was anything important it would have been addressed. He still says she needs to tell someone.

@chelle21689, you made a mistake. It wasn’t a mistake that is likely to cause anyone harm beyond being pissed off that someone’s earning more than they are. The person you sent the information to has access to that information and says she deleted the information she shouldn’t have received. No harm caused. Forget it.

Pick any thread on Fluther @chelle21689, there will always be at least one person who disagrees with the consensus. However, the consensus here is, you should not admit to a historic mistake that has caused nobody any harm.

If you report this, your boss will be put in a situation where he has to do something about it. Now that might simply be to tell you to be more careful, but it will be on your record. And there’s no benefit to anyone in you doing that.

Forget about it.

I agree earthbound.

HR rep doesn’t have access to all of employees (my building). She only has access to her whole building because she constantly deals with their personal stuff and sends it to us in the main building for us to input or process. She only has access to her employees in her building whereas I have access to everyone.

She is under a blanket.confidentially clause.
I agree completely with @Earthbound_Misfit. It would do more harm than good.

I’m not saying that she should just tell “someone,” but tell the people who employ this HR person. The bigwigs. The bosses. The CEO. Make it clear to more than this one HR individual to insure total openness on the subject. Then all the bases will be covered, just in case this HR person isn’t totally on the up and up. A guarantee!
“NEVER assume ANYTHING!!!”

What if she loses her job because of it? I don’t think it would happen, but they might think she’s a bit wacky to tell on herself over a mistake she made over a year ago. And if she goes to the HR person’s superiors then the HR person could get it trouble for not reporting it. I don’t think that would happen either but “NEVER assume ANYTHING!!!”

Sometimes ya just gotta ROLL THE DICE!