Home > Uncategorized > Privacy in the Workplace

Privacy in the Workplace

November 6, 2009 clkajs Leave a comment Go to comments

http://www.freibrun.com/articles/articl9.htm

This article relates to what we discussed in class about privacy and the workplace. Some companies believe they have to monitor their employees to make sure they work and do their job effectively. There are also some companies who will go as far as to monitor e-mails and make sure there is no personal communication going on through the business e-mail system. These companies believe that their employees are wasting valuable work time to talk about personal issues via e-mail. Employees can also release harmful information about coworkers or the company through e-mail. For these reasons many companies who have their own private e-mail system will monitor employees e-mails unannounced.

In the article it discusses how there is no real law forbidding this action nor permitting this action. The law is only applied to phone calls and spoken communication, not communication through the internet. Most lawyers believe that under certain conditions, companies can legally tap into employees e-mails if they own their own private e-mailing system. In order for this to be lawful the employer must make it known that the e-mails are monitored and that non-business related communication is not allowed. If a business has their own private e-mail system, does not monitor e-mails, and wishes to allow employees to communicate about personal issues via e-mail they should let the employees know. In this case the employer should also tell the employee that if questions arise in regards to harmful information about the company in the e-mails the company has a right to read them. In general there is no particular law dictating what is and is not allowed in relation to e-mail; due to the fact, technology is constantly changing and more and more technology is surfacing.

Categories: Uncategorized
  1. jaburch
    November 12, 2009 at 7:25 pm | #1
    Reply | Quote

    I think it is wrong to go through their employees emails. If they are meeting job expectations, there should be no reason to check their emails. When there job performance starts to be bad, then actions should be taken. Even if they are not meeting job expectations, it does not really matter what they are doing that is preventing them from doing so. All the company should do is just tell them that if they want to keep their job they need to increase their performance. If they don’t it will be on them. Also checking emails can create unnecessary problems.

  2. mikephill5
    November 29, 2009 at 11:59 pm | #2
    Reply | Quote

    There are two sides to this issue that I believe are almost equally just. Companies want to make sure that everything is running smoothly and that their employees are doing their job. Employees believe that they have the right to privacy. I’m on the fence with this one because the company may benefit from eliminating someone who is not doing what they are supposed to, but the people that are doing what they are supposed to are at a loss. Also surveys show that people are more likely to dislike their company if their privacy is not protected, resulting in less productivity.

  1. No trackbacks yet.