This paper presents a model employee handbook privacy section for a fictional company, ABC Widget Company, addressing the growing tension between employer oversight and employee privacy rights in the modern workplace. It covers three core areas: personal privacy protections for workers, information technology and email monitoring policies, and workplace expectations regarding company resources. Drawing on legal scholarship and workplace policy literature, the paper argues that clear, written privacy policies benefit both employees and employers by reducing misunderstandings and limiting organizational liability. The handbook language balances employee dignity with legitimate business interests in protecting proprietary information and managing resources effectively.
In the Age of Information, there are increasing concerns about what can legitimately be expected to be kept private, and how these issues affect employees' rights in the workplace. According to Hayden, Hendricks, and Novik (1990), most adults spend approximately one-half of their waking hours in the workplace today, and it is therefore not surprising that employment practices affect a broad range of privacy rights. With the sole exception of polygraph ("lie-detector") testing, there are not many areas of workplace activity addressed by the U.S. Constitution or national privacy laws. As a result, employers in the United States have a great deal of flexibility in collecting data on their employees, regulating their access to personnel files, and disclosing the contents of employee files to those outside the organization. Beyond the issue of personnel files, workplace privacy involves such practices as polygraph testing, drug testing, computer and telephone monitoring, and interference with personal lifestyle (Hayden et al., 1990).
All of these issues are based on a combination of contemporary employer concerns about employee theft, drug abuse, productivity, courtesy, and the protection of proprietary secrets, as well as the technological innovations that have made it cost-effective for many companies to engage in monitoring and testing. The result for employees, however, has been a dramatic increase in workplace surveillance and a perceived invasion of their privacy (Hayden et al., 1990). Therefore, it is the goal of ABC Widget Company ("ABC") to provide each of its employees with the maximum degree of privacy allowable while balancing the company's need to maintain control over its proprietary information and manage its day-to-day affairs. To this end, the following privacy rights issues are addressed in this employee handbook:
1. Rights of workers to personal privacy in the workplace;
2. Information technology (IT) and email privacy; and
3. Expectations and requirements of ABC for its employees in the exercise of their duties and responsibilities in the workplace.
It is the policy of ABC that all employees will be afforded the maximum amount of protection for any personal information maintained by the company. Further, employees will not be subjected to random drug testing or random workplace searches. However, if an employee is suspected of being under the influence of intoxicants or alcohol while at work, or if an employee is suspected of theft or other violations of company policies set forth elsewhere in this handbook, the employee may be required by ABC management to undergo drug testing, counseling, or questioning by company security, as the case may be. It is the policy of ABC that the company will not engage in routine surveillance of its employees in the workplace and, although it has a legal right to do so, this approach is not felt to be in the best interests of the company or its employees (Backer & O'Hara, 1991).
According to Nathan Watson (2001), the monitoring of workplace email is an increasingly controversial issue that employers must address today. Watson points out that union and employee advocacy groups have argued that such practices violate employee workplace privacy and may cause work-related stress and low morale. Further, Watson notes that some employers have used monitoring in an unfair manner to discipline or discharge employees. While public employees are provided some constitutional protections from this type of privacy invasion, private-sector employees are not afforded such protections. Most employees today use email on the job for a variety of personal reasons, and most employers acknowledge that, despite the impact on worker productivity, such use in moderation is acceptable because of its contribution to employee morale and satisfaction (Muhl, 2003).
Therefore, there will be no specific policies in place restricting the personal use of email by ABC employees. However, while the company will not engage in routine monitoring, it is the policy of ABC that all company-owned equipment — whether located on company property or in the possession of employees elsewhere — remains subject to review and examination by management upon request. This includes all internal and external correspondence prepared on such equipment, and any communications made using such equipment. It is also the policy of ABC that there will be no routine surveillance of such equipment use or communications unless management suspects abuse of this policy, at which time the company reserves the right to exercise its options to secure and review any suspect equipment or communications.
"Duties employees must follow under company policy"
"Written policies reduce misuse, misunderstandings, and liability"
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