...Electronic Surveillance of Employees Brent Schenkel Roy Basile, J.D LEG 500 October 23, 2011 Explain where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace. Obviously, employee privacy should not be an issue when it comes to a restroom or a locker room facility. This would invade personal privacy and has been upheld by numerous cases in a court of law. But any other parts of the grounds of the company are considered public areas and can have surveillance monitoring. Any areas where business can occur are fair game to monitor by either camera or microphone. Courts have upheld that parking lots and break rooms on the premises are still under the jurisdiction of the company. 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 overhead, 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. It should not make a difference of the location of the employee. Any action, conversation, or document inside the walls of a company is not private but public information. The employer has a right to search offices, work areas, desks, filing cabinets, lockers and office documents without the employee's permission. However, the employer should do in a lawful and non-threatening manner...
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...“Electronic Surveillance of Employees” Katy Romero Law, Ethics and Corporate Governance Dr. Andrea N. Brvenik Strayer University July 17, 2011 Electronic Surveillance of Employees An employer has the right to monitor the employees to increase the productivity and efficiency of its business. In the other hand, every person has the right of privacy within the organization. Human beings must experience a degree of privacy to thrive. Electronic surveillance is increasing every year within the organizations worldwide. This practice has created a debate among employees and employers. 1. Explain where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in a workplace Employees are becoming increasingly concerned about their privacy as their employers are monitoring them electronically more closely than ever before. Still employees expect to have privacy at the lunch area, bathrooms and lockers. Besides those places the employee has little or almost no privacy within the company. Electronic monitoring allows an employer to observe what employees do on the job and review employee communications, including e-mail and Internet activity, often capturing and reviewing communications that employees consider private. Now days, video monitoring is commonplace in many work environments to maintain security, monitor employees, and to deter theft. 2. In the workplace, there are typically two spaces, an open area in which there are several desks and where conversations can be...
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...Electronic Surveillance of Employees Employee privacy is a controversial topic. There is a need to ensure quality and accuracy in the interactions with customers. This need opens the discussion of what is insuring quality and what is an invasion of privacy. With the advancement in technology there are many surveillance options at the disposal of employers. The employer must review all surveillance options to determine which are legal as well as beneficial to customers, employees, and the business. Employers must consider these factors to make the best legal and ethical decision. Privacy in the Workplace Understanding the meaning of the word privacy is key to set standards of where in the workplace employees may expect discretion. Privacy is “the right to be free from secret surveillance, to determine whether, when, how and, to whom, one's personal or organizational information is to be revealed” ("Privacy," n.d.). Employees may reasonably expect to have privacy in several areas of the workplace. Two physically invasive areas which privacy should be a must are the restrooms and if one has an office with a door, a certain amount of privacy should be expected in that space. Other types of privacy a staff member can demand fairly is the confidentiality of their personal record, like background information, medical reports, social security numbers, financial information, corrective action, and any development plan the employee has engaged in. However, as far as monitoring an...
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...Ethics in the Government and Public Sector in Electronic Surveillance “Can you hear me now, Yes I can even see you” Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Abstract In todays society the number of computers, tablets, mobile devices will rise to about 65 billion devices connecting to the internet. That not counting vehicles, household applicances, gaming devices. However, with all of these deveices there is a significant benfit that will make our lives easier and one potential theat that invades our privacy called Geolocational Privacy and Surveillance (GPS). This sometimes hidden or masked feature is colleting our personal information, location and sometimes converstation. Laws have have enmpowered government and companies to collect databases of consumers without our consent. With ongoing technology where does the protection beging and the surveillance stop. Ethics in the Government and Public Sector in Electronic Surveillance In the movie Enemy of the State the lawyer played by Will Smith becomes a target by a corrupt politican who kills a congressman for his unwillingness to help with a new surveillance system with satellites. The politican with the help of National Security Aministration agents to destroy the lawyers life by manipulation thru the internet and surveillance. This movie was produced in 1998 and then the technological devices we have now were not that advanced. Little did we know that would become the norm of everyday life of those who possess...
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...there is no law legally granting privacy to employees in the workplace. The only place an employee could have a reasonable expectation of privacy is in the restroom. Also, since the employers need to know all employees are providing a proper job, that the workplace place is always secured, also because as the owner of the company he owns the computer network, the terminals and will be the biggest loser if the company fails, he or she is free to monitor employees in order to protect the business and at the same time the employees. Even if employees are sometime given today some minimal protection from computer and other forms of electronic monitoring in the work place, especially through union contract, the Fourth Amendment; or Connecticut, Labor Code Chapter 557 and so on, 92% of all of the US companies still conducting high electronic surveillance in the workplace according to the American Management Association (AMA) report of 2009. For example, personal calls are protected under federal case law. So when an employer realizes the call is personal, he or she must immediately stop monitoring the call unless the employee knows it is being monitored and consents to it. 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 overhead, or an enclosed office, in which—when the door is closed—conversations cannot be...
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...Electronic Surveillance of Employees Law, Ethics and Corporate Governance - LEG 500 Strayer University 23 October 2011 Electronic Surveillance of Employees Introduction Employers are trying to monitor their employees even more to ensure employees' aren't using business hours to conduct personal business or violating other company policies. They want to ensure their employees' are being productive during work hours and are working to achieve company goals. This report will address the following: Where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace? Is there a difference if an employee is in an open area or in an enclosed office? Does a supervisor of a dealership have sufficient grounds for utilizing electronic employee surveillance? To what extent an employer can engage in electronic surveillance of employees? Lastly, to what extent the inclusion of innocent, unaware third-parties in such surveillance determine whether it is legal? Employee Expectation of Privacy in the Workplace With the challenging economy, 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 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, new employees are required to provide Human Resources...
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...Assignment #1 Electronic Surveillance of Employees Strayer University Law, Ethics and Corporate Governance –LEG-5000 July 31 2011 1. Explain where an employees can reasonably expect o have privacy in the workplace? Every employee has the right to privacy in the workplace. Privacy in the workplace has become quite big issue. With the rise of continuing of technology and innovations many employers are seeking how far can they go to monitor their employee’s personal cell phone usage, personal telephone calls and text messaging according to, Lawinfo.com,(December 2009 ) . The usage of emails and other types of electronic communication is becoming more essential of many people lives. However, but when employees use property owed by their employers that are permitted to be used for business purpose, personal privacy laws are largely inapplicable according to Lawinfo.com, (December 2009) .When a person uses his or her cell phone or the company’s business phone or receives phone calls there’s an expectation of privacy in terms of content of any personal conversation. Under the Electronic Communication Act (ECPA), the employee may be liable for monitoring an employee’s private conversation and any other voicemail messages. In other words, the employee’s expectation of privacy in regards to telephone communications this varies from other types of electronic communications, Lawinfo.com article,(December,2009 ) . Some employees find that most business has video cameras, phone...
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...Explain where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace? Employees can reasonably expect to have privacy in two areas of an organization, the restroom and break room. If an organization were to install recording devices in the either place this would violate employee’s reasonable expectation of privacy. According to the Fourth Amendment, U.S. Constitution “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, house, paper and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated” (Halbert & Ingulli, 2010, pg. 89). Human beings need and expect a degree of privacy to thrive. If individuals were not afforded this necessity, the work place becomes unproductive. Companies tangle with this issue, but understand privacy is needed. If an organization were to install cameras in the break room, this would appear to be very strange to its employees. This action raises the question, why monitor your employees during time periods where they are not being paid and not performing organizational duties? Furthermore, if an organization were to do this they would need reasonable grounds for taking such actions. This information would need to be given to employees during orientation before they accept employment. 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...
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...Electronic Surveillance of Employees Law, Ethics & Corporate Governance October 23, 2011 1. Explain where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures" (U.S. Const., amend. IV.1), however, the Fourth Amendment applies only to government actions, not to actions of private employers. As a result government employees may appear to have a fairly stronger claim for protection against electronic monitoring and surveillance than private sector employees. Thus in the U.S., workers in the workplace, except occasionally in restrooms and employee locker rooms, are not normally protected from surveillance on the grounds that the premises and equipment are possessions of the employer and the employee can have no reasonable expectation of intimacy or protection from employer intrusion. The employee, in the employment-at-will setting, has completely consented to the employer's right to monitor the employee closely "for any reason, no reason, or even reason morally” wrong to lose their job. Employees normally have no expectation of privacy in public or in the workplace. Most courts are employing narrow reasoning when discussing reasonable expectation of privacy on e-mail, using “voluntariness” of e-mail communications and property-based notions of ownership of computer systems...
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...1. Explain where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace. Let’s start off with what are some employee rights in the workplace. Employee Privacy Rights in the Workplace have brought two opposing points of view to the forefront for employers. When dealing with privacy issues in workplace situations, employers are duty bound to maintain an environment that is not hostile to workers. “The courts have passed laws concerning race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, gender, social or economic background, and religion that the employer increasingly has to observe and respect (you can learn basic employee rights.com).” According to Jason from safeandsavy.com, some experts have assumed that employers reserved the right to read private email generated on work computers, even if it was not stored on company servers. However, the times may be changing. A recent ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Stengart v. Loving Care might hint at a new precedent. According to Ngo, “The N.J. court ruled that employer Loving Care had violated employee Marina Stengart’s privacy by reviewing copies of e-mail sent to her attorney that were left on her work-issued computer because the e-mail had been sent from a personal, password-protected Webmail account (safeandsavy.com).” Do employers really want to be monitoring private emails on work computers, especially when employees can easily pick up their smart phones to email away? The Loving Care decision may not hold...
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...concerned about their privacy on daily basis, as their employers are constantly monitoring them electronically way more obvious than ever before. Thought, attempt had been tried to block this sneaking activity, but the number of failures at some state whom tried to prevent this monitoring activity still failing, as employers always have some strong various reasons to sneaking into their employee. The reasons could range from monitoring or spying on employee email, phone line to internet activity with the reason to ensure the productivity of the employees at workplace. An employee should be able to reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace in areas that may be physically invasive such as the bathroom, a private office if the electronic surveillance method being used is wiretapping without prior consent in some states. An employee should not expect to have privacy involving company email systems, phone lines, voicemail, cell phones and pagers, and while using company computers regardless if employers state they will not monitor. Offices in open areas, as well as other open areas that are used by employees such as break rooms should also be excluded. In my current position I am a customer service associate and all my phonecalls are recorded and what I do on my computer screen is also monitored, for me there is no privacy at all wether is my phone or my computer but I am aware off these therefore I approved and acepted as part of my daily functions what I disagree is when...
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...Electronic Surveillance of Employees Week 3 Assignment # 1 LEG 500 Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance By Anthony McKenzie Presented to Prof. Moses Cowan February, 16, 2012 1) Explain where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace. The privacy rights of employees and the infringement on these rights, has caused employees to become even more frightened when it concerns their privacy, and they feel that they are losing these rights because of the advances being made in technology (Privacy in the Workplace and Conducting an Internal Investigation, n.d.). For example, these subsequent cases will explain to us more, about how the United States Supreme Court has come to establish the theory of “privacy” for the people of America (Supreme Court Decisions on Liberty 2012,). Katz vs. United States 389, U.S. 347 (1967) & Olmstead v. United States 277 U.S. 438 (1928). Some of the technological tools such as video surveillance cameras, face recognition software, and tracking software programs may be already in use by employers. In particular situations, For example, the employer may want to see closely what it is their employees are doing on company...
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...Electronic Surveillance of Employees LEG 500 Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance January 22, 2012 1. Explain where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace. Human beings need privacy and have a right to expect privacy in certain areas of their lives. The areas where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace are very limited. Common decency precludes monitoring in highly private locations, such as bathrooms. Personal items, such as purses, wallets and gym bags may also be considered to be off-limits. The employee can also reasonably expect privacy during personal telephone calls at work. In Watkins v. L. M. Berry (1983), the court upheld upon appeal that employers must stop monitoring calls upon realization that the call is of a personal nature. Exceptions to this are when employer policy specifically forbids calls of a personal nature. Here the employees need for privacy directly conflict with established policy. Privacy protection may vary with state laws and federal statutes. State laws on privacy in the workplace may differ with some states offering much more privacy protection to the employees than others. For example, Volkert (2005) reported that while electronic surveillance may be allowed in Idaho, it must have a specific purpose and record video only (no audio). Government employees are likely to have greater privacy rights than private sector employees due to protections under the Fourth Amendment of...
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...expect to have privacy in the workplace is in the restroom. “Because electronic monitoring is now commonplace, it may be considered normal, if not accepted, as long as employers can point to a legitimate purpose for monitoring, it will be difficult for employees to win cases against them.” (Halbert & Ingulli pg 74). With this being said, within the private sector privacy law would allow for very minimal expectation of privacy anywhere other than the workplace facility’s’ lavatories. Depending on the workplaces provided service, a case can be made that there is a need to monitor to protect the companies interest as well as its customers. When dealing with the concept of privacy it’s important to consider personal privacy in relation to the company’s privacy and more paramount, company protection. As the video illustrated, the managers reasoning for monitoring his sales floor employee conversations was to protect the reputation of the car dealership as well as protect the business against any potential legal ramifications from dishonest sales employees. This is a very reasonable purpose for monitoring electronically to protect company interest. However, it would be in the interest of the company to communicate to its employees that they are being monitored so there is not sense of privacy invasion of its employees. As in the example with this case, it’s reasonable that the case can be made that electronic surveillance anywhere on the company property is reasonable to protect customer...
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...Electronic Surveillance of Employees Professor Michael Hall Law, Ethic, and Corporate Governance- LEG 500 November 1, 2011 Explain where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace. You may think your United States employee rights authorize you to have a privacy workplace. People are wrong because, according to workplace privacy studies, the odds were good that your employer was monitoring all your internet actions, including your web pages and chat rooms (Niznik, 2011). If your company policy does not state there is a workplace privacy policy, your employer may watch, listen, and read just about everything in workplace area. Employers have the right to protect their business, their finances, and all of their equipment. The American Management Association (AMA) conducted a study of 526 employers which most use some type of electronic surveillance of the employees (Niznik, 2011). Many employers will deny they use any type of electronic surveillance however; the odds are good that your employer has “the eye,” watching your every move at work. Employers are not required to provide workplace privacy because your employers own everything you use at work. Your employers own the computers you work on, the telephones you talk on and the buildings in which you work. There are only a few weak employee workplace privacy right laws that exist. Since there are so few workplace privacy laws, it is legal for “the eye” to spy on you without your...
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