About 15,000 workers for the South Lanarkshire Council had their personal details published online due to a human error.

The leak occurred last month in April when personal data was accidentally revealed when an application was put forth for staff pay grade details.

The Freedom of Information (FOI) request was submitted on the popular site What Do They Know, with the leaked data available on the site for about a month.

The document was supposed to only include anonymised employee data, but instead posted information including job titles and salaries of employees, as well as their national insurance numbers.

The local council has said the leak was a case of ‘human error.’

A second page which was part of the FOI response was not anonymised, leading to the leak.

As the FOI requested data on employee salaries prior to 2021, some ex-employee information was also likely shared.

Personal details like addresses, birth dates, and bank details were not shared in the leak, however.

A South Lanarkshire Council spokesperson told the BBC: “To the best of our knowledge the information was not accessed, and we believe the data could not be used in a way that would be harmful to those involved.”

Employees affected by the breach will be contacted by the council, which has also submitted a report on the leak to the information commissioner.

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The GMB trade union represents many South Lanarkshire council employees, and has said they are happy to aid any members looking for legal retribution.

GMB organiser Ude Adigwe said in a statement, as reported by the BBC: “This is a very concerning incident and poses serious questions about the council’s data management processes.

“Staff deserve more than a simply assurance from the council that policies and procedures have been tightened.

“They deserve an investigation, the fullest possible explanation of how this happened and to be told exactly what measures are being taken to stop it happening again.”