Employee privacy in business contexts

Employee Privacy Business Report

The world of technology is changing the way that everyone is communicating and interacting with one another. In the workplace, this means that the issue of employee privacy has been continually brought to the forefront. As employers seek to monitor what employees are saying in email and where they go on the internet. However, to fully understand what causes employers to monitor the various activities of employees requires an examination of the privacy policies at one the largest employers (Fed Ex). Then, you must have a thorough understanding of current laws regulating this activity, why companies would monitor such activity and the assumptions employees may make about the issue of privacy. Together, all of these different elements will provide the greatest insights, as to why employers monitor the email and internet activities of their employees.

What are: email use, Internet use, and privacy polices at FedEx?

Fed Ex is one of the largest employers at the country. They follow company the guidelines on employee privacy, meaning that when an employee joins the company they sign a letter acknowledging that they have the right to view all email and internet activity. It then would state, the areas that such intrusions could be considered to be unauthorized such as: the searching of an employee's locker without their consent. (Saunders, 2003)

What are the current laws regulating employee e-mail and Internet privacy, both federal and mass?

The CAN SPAM Act regulates how and when someone can receive unsolicited emails. Under the act, anyone who receives emails must be given the opportunity to have their name and email address removed from the marketers list (opt out). This law is used to regulate how a business can contact the general public through unsolicited email. (Saunders, 2003)

However, when it comes to regulating email and internet privacy at work, there were two federal court decisions that would be relevant. Where, they allow employers to legally monitor all employee emails and the places they go on the internet. An example of this can be seen in an a Texas court decision which found, "Searching email stored in an employee's private computer folder is not the same as searching an employee locker, for which courts have held an employee does have a reasonable expectation of privacy. The difference is that the material in an employee's locker is personal and the employer knows that. Email folders stored on an employer's computer -- even if protected by an employee password -- are not personal property but merely an inherent part of the office environment." (Saunders, 2003) Yet, when you look a little further the courts have provided even more clarity on the issue. A good example of this would be: when a federal court in Pennsylvania said the following, after a company told employees that they would not use what they saw in emails as the sole factor in terminating someone. However, after reading the comments between an employee and supervisor they fired both people. After hearing both sides the court said, "Regardless of the company's statements, it was not reasonable for an employee to expect privacy in email sent to a supervisor over a company email system. The company's interest in preventing inappropriate comments or illegal activity over its email system outweighed any privacy interest the employee may have." (Saunders, 2003) These court decisions, give employers the right to legally monitor all activity of employees on the internet and to read their emails.

Why do companies implement e-mail and Internet policies?

Companies implement email and internet policies to protect themselves against what their employers or employee may say. For example, if an employee sends an email to a company or an individual that contains obscene material or abusive language. This could be construed as a part of the atmosphere that exists in the work place. At which point, entity / individual can sue the employer for violating the law, by not properly monitoring their employees' email and internet activities. ("Workplace Privacy and Employee Monitoring" 2010)

However, a larger concern that employers have is any email sent to someone by an employee can become a problem for them in the future. Where, an employee may tell a customer something in an email, then delete it and deny they said anything. The problem for the employer is that email correspondence can be retrieved later on, after the person has deleted the email. This can be used as evidence that the company knowingly knew what was occurring, because of the email record. If there were any kind of laws broken, law enforcement has a right to view all email correspondence with a search warrant. Because of the host of legal issues that arise from employee email correspondence, most employers will monitor what their employees activities are, as far as email and the internet are concerned. ("Workplace Privacy and Employee Monitoring" 2010)

What assumptions might employees make about their privacy at work? How these do polices affect employee privacy at work?

The biggest assumption that employees will make about the workplace is that their personal areas including: their desk, computer terminal, where they visit on the internet and company email accounts are considered to be private. However, most of these areas are not considered to be private in the workplace. Instead, the employer has a right to search / monitor: the desk, computer terminal, the email and where the employee visits on the internet. This is the biggest assumption that employees make in work and are one the greatest areas of confusion for them. ("Workplace Privacy and Employee Monitoring" 2010)