Employee Right to Privacy
The technological boom has provided advances in the business world that were never before dreamed possible. Today, with the click of a mouse one can email requests around the world, chat in real time with people who are hundreds or thousands of miles away and set up shipments without ever leaving the cubicle. With those advances, however, come issues of employee privilege that have never before been faced. Recent court cases have illuminated the fact that while employees have certain reasonable expectations of privacy, when it comes to company owned equipment and ideas the needs to be sure display prudent care in what they do. When all is said and done an employee has no right to privacy, reasonable or otherwise when it comes to the use of company equipment. This was recently tested and upheld by the Supreme Court when employees sued Hewlitt Packard for hiring private investigators to uncover private phone records that were received and made from company paid for equipment. In addition the company won the right to view emails and chats that were logged on the company computers, often without the employee knowing that their online activities were being logged(Benderoff, 2006).
One of the most effective ways to maintain employee morale and respect is to notify each employee that their right to privacy while using company equipment is limited. work if you care about privacy," said Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute, an offshoot of the American Civil Liberties Union. Gottshall, a partner in the employment group at Chicago law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP(Benderoff, 2006). 2001), it was determined that the employee's right to reasonable expectations of privacy had not been violated by having his employer check his work computer to determine whether he had installed programs that had not been authorized by the company(Legal Cases http://www. cfm?keyword1=employment&topic=Employment). In that case the emails were stored on the Nationwide owned computer which exempted the company from having to apply the Act(Legal Cases http://www. cfm?keyword1=employment&topic=Employment). While courts are currently upholding the rights of businesses to search for and read private correspondence sent through company computers it is important that they do not destroy the mutual trust, respect and morale that is shared among the employees and their supervisors. "Under the prevailing law right now, if you are using any company equipment, you should have no expectations as to your right to privacy," said Julie L. Another thing that the company can do to insure they are treating the employees with respect regarding privacy issues is to send out a weekly company wide email politely reminding employees that emails, instant messages and other communications will be randomly selected for viewing to insure the company's best interest remains the goal during work hours. The employee was fired and sued and lost the suit(Legal Cases http://www.
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