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Electronic Surveillance of Employees

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Electronic Surveillance of Employees

Ebony Claud

Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance- 500
Professor Regenea Hurte
July 15, 2011 Electronic Surveillance of Employees

1) Explain where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace.

With company’s going under day in and day out employers are finding new ways to protect their assets and increase employee performance. Whether it is through surveillance or monitoring internet usage, companies are trying to protecting what is rightfully theirs. In many companies throughout the world employees privacy rights are granted by regulations and specific laws. There are a number of cases when these rules would come into play. Say for instance, a Supervisor hires new employees, and they are all told to fill out paperwork with a large amount of personal information. It is the company’s responsibility to make sure that this information is kept private. Other circumstances in which an employee would expect privacy would normally be in the restroom or in a closed office room. Where as in an open office space where work stations are in close proximity there is not much privacy. Now if the company has a policy in the bylaws allowing for reasonable searches of computers, email and employee work stations then “reasonable expectations of privacy” is weaken (Halbert, & Ingulli, 2009). The Fourth Amendment in the Constitution states guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, while also requiring any warrant to be legally approved by probable cause. By accepting the job employees knew what they were getting themselves into. So if the manager in a company feels as though the company is being sabotaged then he or she has the right to protect the business interest.

2) In the office workplace there are typically two types of workspaces, an open area, in which there are several desks and where conversations can be overheard, or an enclosed office, in which—when the door is closed—conversations cannot be heard and where one would expect virtually total privacy. Explain whether it makes a difference if an employee is in an open area or in an enclosed office. A businesses obligation is to maintain privacy for the customers and maintain a secure work environment to improve business functions. In an office setting there is really no privacy. Many times the only personnel in a business that are allowed their very own private office space are supervisors or personnel with a certain level of importance in the company. This is very understand because of the position that they up hold in the business because some of the information may not be for public knowledge. In this type of situation the only personnel that have closed office space that is theirs and theirs alone have a more closed level of privacy then someone in an open office space. It allows them more room to be free and speak as they want without being bothered. In an open office setting it is total opposite. When working in close proximity with other people on the job such as in a cubicle setting one must watch what is being said and done because others are watching. With the amount of technology today in many businesses there is always someone watching, from the monitoring of phone calls to the monitoring of time spent on the computer. Because when you are on the job that is their time and when you are on their time the company’s money is being spent. So it is up to them to make sure that the job is getting done. It is up to the employees upon getting hired to learn the regulations for employee privacy in that particular company.

3) Explain if Herman’s need to know whether his salespersons are honest is a sufficient ground for utilizing electronic surveillance.
When hiring personnel for a business the person doing the hiring looks for a certain kind of individual that displays integrity that will also be the best person that they see fit for the company’s image. As the image of the car salesman is already tattered one would think Mr. Sulka would put his best foot forward and try to offer the best quality service to his customer. Instead he tried to play on Ms. Drummands intelligence because he knew that she did not know much about cars. I feel as though Mr. Herman had every right to use electronic surveillance but with certain stipulations. Under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act 1986, it is illegal to intercept, oral or electronic communication, or the unauthorized access of stored communications (Halbert, & Ingulli, 2009). But there are also certain exemptions to the ECPA, and if any of them apply, monitoring can take place under appropriate circumstances. The exceptions allow employers to monitor business-related phone calls, to monitor communications when there has been employee consent, and to retrieve and access stored email messages. Where business relations and the efficiency of legal liability are at stake, the use of electronic surveillance is legal (Halbert, & Ingulli, 2009). After all it is Mr. Herman’s business and he is trying to protect his company to make sure that his employees are doing their job. There is one part in the clip where Mr. Herman tells his employee that he needs to tell the buyer the truth about the cars. When incidents like this happen it only makes the company look bad and puts the company in an awkward position an even get sued. In conclusion, Mr. Herman had every right to use surveillance on his employee because at that time it was in the best interest of his business.

4) Explain to what extent an employer can engage in electronic surveillance of employees.
Electronic surveillance is nothing new in the work place. Almost every job has some sort of surveillance system to protect the company and its employees.

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