Last Updated 4th December 2025. You expect your employers to handle personal information in accordance with their legal obligations. When that isn’t the case, the consequences for your emotional and financial well-being can be devastating. If your personal information was compromised because of a failure to adhere to data protection legislation, causing you financial and/or mental harm, you may be able to pursue employer personal data breach compensation.
We understand that deciding to bring a claim is never taken lightly, which is why our specialised solicitors provide a personalised service on a No Win No Fee basis throughout the employer personal data breach claims process. They will be there with you every step of the way to help secure the data breach compensation that you deserve. Read on to learn more about making a claim for employer data breach.
What You Need To Know
- How Can My Personal Data Be Breached By My Employer? Common causes include inadequate data protection training, insufficient security measures, human error, and cyber hacks.
- What Personal Data Might My Employer Have? It can include your home address, personal email, national insurance number, and trade union membership.
- What Preventive Measures Can My Employer Take To Protect My Data? Your employer can ensure that staff are routinely trained on data protection, install multi-factor authentication and regularly update their cybersecurity software.
- Can I Make a Complaint About An Employer Data Breach? Yes, you can submit a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is the UK’s independent regulator of data protection and information rights.
- What Can I Claim For After An Employer Data Breach? You can claim compensation for the financial loss and mental harm resulting from the data breach.
Contact our advisors for a free consultation, where we can explain the available options with no obligation to proceed further.
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How To Make Employer Personal Data Breach Compensation Claims
Your personal data is protected under the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). These 2 pieces of legislation set out the responsibilities of a data controller, who decides how and why your data is used, and a data processor, who may process the data on the controller’s behalf. Your employer may play both roles.
If either the data controller or processor failed to adhere to these pieces of legislation, it could potentially lead to an accidental data breach at work. A personal data breach occurs when the availability, confidentiality, or integrity of your personal data is compromised in a security incident.
Article 82 of the UK GDPR sets out the eligibility criteria that need to be met in order to begin a personal data breach claim:
- The breach of data protection at work must have occurred because the data controller or processor failed to adhere to the data protection legislation.
- Your personal data must have been compromised in the breach.
- You must have suffered financial harm and/or emotional harm as a result of the breach of your personal data.
Speak with an advisor from our team today to discuss your eligibility for data breach compensation. Or, read on to learn more about the employer personal data breach compensation claims process.
What Personal Data Could My Employer Breach?
You may wish to know what personal data could be compromised should an employer data breach occur. Firstly, personal data is information that can identify you as the data subject.
When you ask, “My employer has lost my personal data; what was compromised?” you may like to see examples. Personal data that your employer may have on file could include your:
- Name
- Address
- Phone number
- Personal email address, but not an email address connected to the company you work for. For example, @companyname.co.uk is not considered personal data.
- National insurance number
Some personal data that may be included with your employment records could be considered special category data. This is data that is sensitive and, therefore, given additional protections under the UK GDPR. Special category data that may be included in employment records includes:
- Racial or ethnic background.
- Religious or philosophical beliefs.
- Medical information. For example, if you told your employer of a disability so they could make reasonable adjustments to allow you to carry out your work duties.
If a lost or stolen device contains employment records with any of the personal data listed above, it could be considered a data breach. Additionally, if your employer sends a mass email using personal rather than company email addresses and fails to use the blind carbon copy (BCC) feature to conceal the addresses from each other, it could also be considered a data breach.
If the loss of your personal data by your employer caused you harm, whether financial or emotional, call our advisors. They’re available with free legal advice 24/7.
Examples Of Employer Personal Data Breach Compensation Claims
You might be wondering how a personal data breach could occur. As we’ve already mentioned, a breach in data protection laws alone is not enough to start a compensation claim; you must also be able to prove that the breach included your personal data, and that it caused you harm.
Some examples of employer data breaches that could lead to a compensation claim include:
- If your employer stored files that contained your personal data in an unlocked filing cabinet, then other employees could access this data, causing you financial or emotional harm.
- If company devices such as laptops or phones are not password protected, this could lead to thieves accessing your personal data.
- If your employer were to send out an email containing your personal data to the wrong email address, this could lead to significant financial or emotional harm.
These are just a few examples of how a workplace data breach could occur. To learn more about employer personal data breach compensation claims, or to find out if you could claim for a workplace data breach, contact our team of advisors today.
How Can I Prove My Employer Is At Fault For A Data Breach At Work?
When you make a claim for a data breach at work, you need to be able to provide evidence to support your case. This is one of the most important steps in the claims process because you need to be able to prove:
- Who was responsible for the breach.
- How the breach affected your personal data.
- How it has affected you, both mentally and financially.
Some examples of evidence that you could use to make an accidental data breach at work claim could include:
- Correspondence with the ICO or the results of an ICO investigation.
- A letter of notification from the organisation responsible for the breach.
- Bank statements, invoices, or receipts showing your financial losses.
- Medical records or an independent medical review that illustrates the psychological harm you’ve suffered.
If you claim for a UK GDPR breach at work with the help of a solicitor, they can assist you with building and supporting your case with different kinds of evidence. Contact our team today to learn more.
Employer Personal Data Breach Compensation Claim Payouts
Following a breach of data protection at work, you might be interested in finding out the potential value of your claim. Your compensation could cover:
- Material damage: The financial loss caused by the breach
- Non-material damage: The mental harm you have suffered due to your personal data being compromised in an accidental data breach at work
When making a claim following a breach of data in the workplace, those valuing your harm may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is because the JCG provides suggested compensation brackets for various forms of psychological harm.
In the table below, we have listed some of the brackets found within the JCG. Please only use it as a guide. The first entry in this table has not been taken from the document.
| Type of Suffering | Severity | Compensation Bracket |
|---|---|---|
| Serious Psychological Harm + Special Damages | Serious | Up to £250,000+ |
| Psychiatric Damage Generally | (a) Severe | £66,920 to £141,240 |
| Psychiatric Damage Generally | (b) Moderately Severe | £23,270 to £66,970 |
| Psychiatric Damage Generally | (c) Moderate | £7,150 to £23,270 |
| Psychiatric Damage Generally | (d) Less Severe | £1,880 to £7,150 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | (a) Severe | £73,050 to £122,850 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | (b) Moderately Severe | £28,250 to £73,050 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | (c) Moderate | £9,980 to £28,250 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | (d) Less Severe | £4,820 to £9,980 |
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What Is Material Damage?
As we stated above, you might receive compensation for your material damage if your personal data was included in a data breach in the workplace. To be compensated, you will need to submit evidence, such as a copy of your bank statements.
Examples of financial losses that can be claimed for include:
- The cost of therapy if you suffered psychological harm because of the breach.
- Any additional home security
- The expense of moving to a new address
- Lost income, including future earnings
Get in touch with our advisors to learn what else you could include in your claim if your personal data was compromised in a data protection breach at work.
How Our No Win No Fee Solicitors Can Help With A Data Breach At Work
Now that you’ve learned more about data protection in the workplace and how your personal data should be handled, you may be interested in starting a claim. Whether you’ve suffered a purposeful or accidental data breach at work, if you’re eligible to claim employer personal data breach compensation, one of our specialist solicitors could help you today. They can make the claims process a lot easier for you by doing the following:
- Collecting all of your evidence.
- Sending correspondence on your behalf to the defendant.
- Ensuring your compensation has been fairly and accurately valued.
- Ensuring the claims time limits are adhered to.
- Explaining any legal jargon.
- Sending regular case updates.
What’s more, our solicitors offer the above services under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which is a specific type of No Win No Fee contract.
When working with a solicitor under a CFA, you do not pay for your solicitor’s services:
- Before the claims process begins.
- During the entire claims process.
- If the claim is unsuccessful.
If the employer GDPR breach compensation claim is successful, your solicitor will receive a small percentage of your compensation. This is called the success fee, and the percentage is legally capped to ensure that the majority of compensation goes to you no matter what.
So, please don’t hesitate to contact us today if your personal data was breached by your employer. Our solicitors may be able to help you make a data breach claim today.
Our contact methods are free for you to use and live 24/7:
- Call 0800 073 8804
- Use our live chat.
- Fill out our contact us online form.
Remember, if you have any questions at all about employer personal data breach compensation claims, please get in touch.