¶ … right of employers to engage in electronic surveillance of their employees remains an area of intense legal dispute. However, overall the courts have been expanding, rather than limiting the rights of employers to use new technology to monitor worker behavior. Workers cannot assume that they have an expectation of privacy in the public environment of the workplace. "New technologies make it possible for employers to monitor many aspects of their employees' jobs, especially on telephones, computer terminals, through electronic and voice mail, and when employees are using the Internet. Such monitoring is virtually unregulated" (Fact sheet, 2011, Privacy Rights).
Because employers own workplace computers and phones, they have a right to monitor employee's use of these devices. The one exception to this rule was in a New Jersey Supreme Court case where attorney-client privilege prevented an employer from reading the communications sent by an employee to her counsel on a company laptop through her personal password-protected email account. A California case in which a woman communicated with her attorney through a company email account was decided in the employer's favor, given that it was deemed that the woman did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the workplace on an account also used for work purposes (Fact sheet, 2011, Privacy Rights).
Other than such limited instances as attorney-client privilege, there are relatively few areas in which an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace. The courts have found in favor of employees who have complained about the inability to use the bathroom or break room without facing electronic surveillance. But unless an employer states specifically that computer, telephone, and other employee behavior will not be monitored, employees have no reasonable expectation of privacy when they surf the internet, talk on phones, or even interact with one another.
The courts thus do allow for some extent that social conventions relating to privacy should be honored. An excellent example of this relates to employee bathroom and changing room behavior. While some employers have tried to make the case that they have a need to monitor such behavior to ensure employees do not steal or engage in other prohibited behaviors, in most instances the right and expectation of the employee to personal privacy has been weighed as more important than the need for the employer to guard against potential theft.
Q3. Pilferage by employees is one of the greatest sources of revenue drain for employers. While employers cannot engage in electronic surveillance, in areas where employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy such as a restroom, in most public areas employers are free to monitor employees, when the see fit. Herman's use of such technology hardly makes him unique: "Almost half of the companies use video monitoring to counter theft, violence and sabotage. Of those, only 7% state they use video surveillance to track employees' on-the-job performance. Most employers notify employees of anti-theft video surveillance (78%) and performance-related video monitoring (89%)" (Fact sheet, 2011, Privacy Rights).
While the typical image of someone who engages in pilferage from the workplace is that of a fast food employee stealing an extra hamburger, or a Gap employee taking a pair of jeans, pilferage can have far more serious repercussions for a company in terms of lost revenue. Company trade…
However, because they make billing more efficient, the majority of large urban practice groups and hospitals have already made the switch to electronic records, according to Michael R. Costa, attorney and associate at Greenberg Traurig, LLP, in Boston, Mass. However, he adds, most of these organizations maintain warehouses where they store paper records that have been transcribed to electronic form. "There is resistance from some about going to a
Balancing the Right to Know With the Right for Privacy and Records Confidentiality Balancing the right to know with the right of American public for the privacy and confidentiality of their personal information is a challenging enterprise, and it is reasonable to suggest that optimal solutions require careful analysis of the competing interests that are involved. Indeed, some proponents argue that the American public's right to know is embodied in the
3408 Term 1 Coursework 2012-13 Law 3408 course work Victoria's Case Employers engage workers on either contracts of service or contracts for services. Therefore, any person engaged under a contract of service qualifies as an employee and enjoys full protection as per the employment legislation. In addition, a self-employed individual must possess a contract for services with the party for whom one offers their services. It is important for people to acknowledge
Privacy in the Workplace "Employee Monitoring: Is there Privacy in the Workplace?" 2003. Consumers Action Network Professionally ethical standards dictate that employees should be committed to working and performing at a professional level while in the workplace. Most employees assume that they have a right to a reasonable expectation to privacy while in the workplace. The majority of employers however in today's society, do utilize some form of employee surveillance and monitoring.
The courts have basically given businesses cart blanc with regard to the monitoring of what their employees say and do in their work email as well as on their work computers, even when they sign in to private web-based email accounts for private transmissions, as such events can be recorded by employers, as the computer being used has been designated by the courts as the domain of the employer
Collective bargaining is made up of negotiations between an employer and a group of workers that decide the conditions of employment. Frequently workers are represented in the bargaining by a union or other labor association. The outcome of collective bargaining procedure comes in the form of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Collective agreements may be in the shape of procedural agreements or substantive agreements. Procedural agreements have to do
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