Common Workplace Activities that Trigger Privacy Rights Violation

The emerging trend in electronic communication has prompted employers to implement new means to monitor employee activities. Employers can track history of email messages and web searches. This sparked privacy issues among employees, contesting the limit of employers to track their daily activities.

Though employers have some legal right to inspect communication of employees with clients and with other employees, excessive intrusion on employees' office equipment and activities can constitute privacy violation.

Workplace activities that can spark privacy issues:

1. The employer wants to open an employee's locked drawer
2. The employer conducts a search
3. The employer places a surveillance camera in the office to monitor employee work behavior and activities
4. The employer enforces random drug testing

Employers must inspect belongings/ things in drawers or lockers with the consent of employees. Searches must be done with the presence of employees and within reasonable cause.

The employer must establish a legal basis for conducting such search and state the extent and limitation of such action. Comfort rooms of male/female employees poses more stringent limitation against searches.

The employer can establish stealing or fraud cases in the office as basis for conducting such action.

Here are some common workplace activities that involve privacy violation

1. Internet messaging. Employees have access to email, yahoo messenger, and other internet messaging system that the employer can monitor. All internet messages sent by the employee using the employer's computer are considered company property.

Email messages sent can be tracked by employers, if they have a reasonable business cause. Employers can save all internet messages and screen its content and illegal use.
2. Surfing the internet. Employers can create a history for employee's web searches. It can trace the specific web sites that the employee has visited, including the time spent for each. In this way, employers have the chance to evaluate employees who violate company policy on unrelated business web searches.
3. Phone calls. Employees who spend most of work duties receiving and answering calls may be exposed to privacy issues involving employer's surveillance practices. Employers can record and trace unrelated business calls from the employees' phone.

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) limits the employer's rights to track employees' phone calls in the workplace. Employers’ are prohibited from tracking employees' personal phone calls. Even if the phone call was conducted using office equipment, the employer has limitation on recording and screening the calls.

Employers are prohibited from tampering or preventing access to the voicemail messages.

Consult with a Los Angeles Employment Attorney to learn more on employee privacy rights.