If a manager uses confidential employee information for personal gain what is violated?

Correct answer: Confidentiality and ethics

Confidential employee information may include personal details, performance records, complaints or other sensitive facts shared in trust. A manager receives access to such information for legitimate organisational purposes, not for private benefit. Using it personally can harm employees, create unfair advantage, damage workplace trust and violate ethical duties. Professional conduct requires protecting information, limiting access and using it only for an authorised purpose.

Option A is correct because the manager has violated confidentiality and ethics. Special knowledge and training are qualifications, not the specific duty broken in this situation, so B and C are incorrect. Division of work concerns allocation of duties and has no direct connection with misuse of private information, making D wrong. The central issue is the dishonest use of entrusted information for personal gain.