Workplace Privacy Essays (Examples)

Workplace Privacy Issue:
For a long period of time, the right to privacy, including workplace privacy has been a major controversial issue. In the recent past, workplace privacy issues have become major focal point of debates regarding the rights of employers and employees because of the impact of technological advancements, legislative scrutiny, and rising costs of healthcare. Generally, workplace privacy issues are divided into two major categories i.e. on-the-job and off-the-job privacy issues.

On-the-job privacy issues encompass concerns like psychological testing, drug testing, property searches, and medical testing. They are the most common workplace privacy issues experienced by employees and employers because they are closely linked to job performance and safety. In contrast, the off-the-job privacy issues incorporate a broad range of concerns such as the worker's political activities, recreational activities, and medical treatment as they focus on employee behavior outside the workplace.

Given the significance of workplace privacy issues, there is a…

Deontologically, people might take a stand for personal physical privacy as an innate moral good; yet, precisely what each deontologist might define privacy to be may vary. Consequently, some deontologists might think that workplace surveillance and drug tests are morally acceptable, while genetic tests are not. Others might organize their beliefs differently -- all measures may be seen as morally unacceptable, for instance. Essentially, attesting to be either a utilitarian or a deontologist gives little indication of which way an individual might lean with respect to physical privacy in the workplace.
Legal precedents regarding these issues have made relatively little progress towards reaching a widespread consensus of how to handle such cases. The Burlington case concerning genetic testing could have accomplished this but failed because although it was settled out of court for 2.2 million dollars, "Burlington admitted no wrongdoing and there has been no determination that what it did…

This even happened in Athens in 1993 when its municipal government imposed conditions of a cholesterol check. They sought to accept only those employees having acceptable level of cholesterol. Employers later had to abandon this policy due to public hue and cry but it shows how far employers can go in imposing medical conditions on employees.
Drug testing is a common practice in a number of organizations as its harmful effects on employee performance have been proved many a times. Employees working under the influence of drugs do not act and perform like normal employees. Not only is drug abuse bad for employees' own performance but it also affects the organizational work environment.

Drug testing is something that is acceptable to both employees and employers but the case of alcohol is different. There are many who drink socially and attend offices as well. Employees can impose restriction on dirking within office…

Privacy in the Workplace
The importance of privacy has risen over the years and its handling has become extremely crucial lately. Defaulting organisations have been faced with serious legal actions and thus, companies have taken a higher interest in the conversations of their workforce. However, this effort of the employer aimed at monitoring the activities of workers isn't as smooth as it should be due to the right of the employee to personal privacy.

The right of the workers to workplace privacy has caused several court cases recently, mostly due to the digital revolution of business communication i.e. emails, memos etc. Technological developments have made it possible for all form of digital communication as well as Internet use in the workplace to be placed under surveillance. Although employees have their reservations about this, the employers are protected by the law. However, other actions of the workers like confidential discussions and their private…

egulating Internet Privacy
Privacy regulation has remained pinnacle of issues that got birth with internet. Every innovation in technology is at the expense of privacy; it is no more there as most of technicians believe. A layman using internet does not find how and when his personal information is can be traced by someone else; privacy at workplace that was once enjoyed by the employees is no more at one's disposal, and the never ending cookies and internet bugs allow heightened levels of internet surveillance. General public, heedlessly, isn't aware of such issues and is jolted only when such issues are raised on media. Marc otenberg tells us about its importance, "Privacy will be to the information economy of the next century what consumer protection and environmental concerns have been to the industrial society of the 20th century" (Spinello, 2003).

What is the extent of privacy erosion? Where is it necessary and…

Employee Privacy Torts
History of Employee Privacy

Changing Trends of Employee Privacy

Impact of Innovative Technology on Employee Privacy

ole of Social Media towards Employee Privacy

Impact of Changing Community/Society on Employee Privacy

Adaptation to the new Environment pertaining to Employee Privacy

Employee Monitoring and Surveillance

Laws and Employer Policies for Text Messaging and Social Media

Electronic Communication Privacy Act

Monitoring of Employee Conversations over Telephone & Email

ecommendations for creating Effective Policies

Future Implications of Employee Privacy

As years have passed and the human race has penetrated into the epoch of twenty first century, the technological advancements have conquered almost every facet of human life, especially the workplace. The widespread platform of the internet has become the integral part of a person's life, in the same manner as businesses are employing technological advancements to perform numerous activities like internet infrastructure, maintenance of computers and so on. It means that the human race is residing in a magnificent era where the flow of…

Employee Privacy Torts
Issues relating to employee privacy have been at the forefront of businesses for many years. This has been fuelled by the dynamic workplace which changes constantly and also by employees and employers being more litigation-conscious. Technology has also spurred on employee privacy issues with e-mail and the internet being related to heightened concerns about vulnerability of employers to litigation. Many employers have thus exacerbated their concerns relating to employee privacy and especially monitoring of employee behavior. Employee privacy is respected in many of the large corporations. However, there still exist some breaches in employee privacy. Small business owners are at most risk as a result of their increased monitoring practices and close employer-employee interaction.

Historical background

oberson v. ochester Folding Box Company

One of the major cases that brought employee privacy to the limelight was oberson v. ochester Folding Box Company

Franklin Mills Co. decided to appeal the decision. The appellate found…

Employee Handbook Privacy Section
ABC Widget Company: Employee Handbook Privacy Section

What privacy rights issues should be addressed?

In the Age of Information, there are increasing concerns being voiced 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 Novak (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 activities that are 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. Besides the issue…

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…

This will prevent visitation to illicit websites such as pornographic and gambling websites; prevent usage of ecommerce sites such as Amazon or Ebay; or to prevent the use of general recreational or social sites such as Facebook and Myspace. Other companies may elect, with all legal protection, to prevent any web navigation beyond those sites which are essential to conducting business.
hy do companies implement e-mail and Internet use policies?

Most companies determine to use such monitoring policies based on the calculated view that the loss of privacy will promote greater workplace efficiency by discouraging inappropriate use of company resources and time. Among the reasons supplied for using email and web-use monitoring, the text by iBrief (2001) offers the needs to preserve the company's professional reputation, the maintenance of employee productivity, preventing sexual harassment or cyberstalking, preventing defamation, preventing illegal company disclosure and preventing copyright infringement. (iBrief, 1)

hat assumptions might employees…

Employee E-Mail and Internet Privacy Policies
The increased usage of the Internet and e-mail has changed the way companies do business. Nearly instantaneous communication can take place globally. Information on a countless number of topics can now be accessed from anywhere around the world. These technological developments have not only helped employees increase their efficiencies, but also has given them a new means of distraction from their duties. For this reason, many companies have developed e-mail and Internet policies.

At my job, our e-mail policy states that e-mails should not include illegal or libelous statements. E-mail is to be used for business purposes only and e-mail communications are the property of the company. For this reason, the company may access sent and received from work computers at any time, this includes deleted e-mails that are stored on the company's servers. The Internet policy is similar in that the Internet is also to…

Monitoring Employee Communications
The workplace is highly complex, and while there is a great deal of emphasis placed on practical aspects such as management of resources and operational strategies, there is less attention paid to ethical issues. With the evolution technology, there is an increasing potential for businesses to benefits from its application, concurrently, there are many different ethical issues which may need to be considered (Tavani, 2013). An increasingly controversial issue has been the rights of employees to privacy when using workplace computers for personal communications (Blanchard, 2016). This may be argued as becoming increasingly complex, as not only are employees using the workplace equipment, they may also be using their own devices which are attached to workplace networks, or where employees may placer information that can be accessed on social media (Buettner, 2015). The ability to monitor employee communications, need for commercial confidentially, and the desire of employees…

This will pevent the employee fom claiming that they had thei basic civil ights violated.
In the futue, once new changes ae intoduced (fom tansfomations in technology), is when thee will be new policies implemented. Duing this pocess, eveyone will have to go though a new couse that will explain these guidelines. Afte they have finished, is when they will sign anothe disclosue document.

If the kind of appoach was used by employes, it will help to avoid many of the legal challenges that ae impacting fims. This is because executives ae taking the Iowa Supeme Cout guidelines and ae going beyond them. In the event that they ae sued, the fim can demonstate that they ae doing above what is equied (when it comes to these challenges). It is at this point, that an employe can stike a balance between monitoing the activities of staff membes and potecting thei pivacy.

Refeences

Though…

Drug Testing in the Workplace
Most employers in the United States are not required to do drug testing on either current or potential employees, although the majority have the right to do so (United States Department of Labor, 2010). Drug testing is not required under the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988. The Act can be confusing and challenging for employers, however, since it essentially states that any organization receiving federal grants or contracts must be drug-free but does not contain language that specifically allows for drug testing (Thompson euters 2011). Many state and local governments limit or prohibit drug testing unless required for certain jobs with state or Federal governments.

As far back as 1997, the American Civil Liberties Union was deploring the use of drug testing in the workplace, citing an increase of 277% over a ten-year period (American Civil Liberties Union, 1997). Drug testing remains a controversial issue and one's…

Internet: Privacy for High School Students
An Analysis of Privacy Issues and High School Students in the United States Today

In the Age of Information, the issue of invasion of privacy continues to dominate the headlines. More and more people, it seems, are becoming victims of identity theft, one of the major forms of privacy invasion, and personal information on just about everyone in the world is available at the click of a mouse. In this environment, can anyone, especially high school students, reasonably expect to have any degree of privacy? High school students, after all, are not protected by many of the same constitutional guarantees as adults, but their needs for privacy may be as great, or greater, than their adult counterparts. To determine what measure of privacy, if any, high schools students can expect at home and school today, this paper provides an overview of the issue of privacy, followed…

Workplace Bullying
Bullying is not limited to the halls of higher learning as we have come to expect. Unfortunately, workplace bullying is a very real phenomenon in workplaces and worksites across the globe. This paper will focus on the issue of workplace bullying that can lead to violence as well as strategies to help negate bullying and manage it in the work environment.

Bullying is a form of aggression which can manifest in both subtle and overtly aggressive ways. Workplace Bullying.org identifies several forms of bullying that may lead to violence in the workplace including:

Spreading malicious rumors, gossip, or innuendo that is not true

Undermining or deliberately impeding a person's work

Withholding necessary information or purposefully giving the wrong information

Making jokes that are 'obviously offensive' by spoken word or e-mail

Intruding on a person's privacy by pestering, spying or stalking

Criticizing a person persistently or constantly

Blocking applications for training, leave or promotion

It is important to point…

iegele indicates that "employers often wish to know whether they are entitled to contact an applicant's references and what obligations they may have in this regard. ith respect to obtaining consent to contact such references, it is accepted that an applicant who lists references on a job application or resume is implicitly consenting to a prospective employer contacting and obtaining information from those references. Similarly, it is generally accepted that an applicant who lists former employers is deemed to be giving consent to have those employers contacted for references." (iegele, p. 3)
Conclusion:

This speaks to the fundamental condition in the relationship between employer and prospective employee. The latter must make available willingly certain information that would otherwise be considered private and protected. This is part and parcel to the process of attempting to gain employment and provides the prospective employer with avenues to determine the suitability of the individual not…

The courts have basically given businesses cart blanc with regard to the monitoring of what their employees say and do in their work email as well as on their work computers, even when they sign in to private web-based email accounts for private transmissions, as such events can be recorded by employers, as the computer being used has been designated by the courts as the domain of the employer to be used by the employee only for the purpose of legitimate business commerce.
Though there are still a limited number of court cases that document the firing of employees, as legitimate on the grounds of their use of employee computers to engage in non-work related communications, they do exists and they are being determined in the favor of the employer. These cases will likely serves as a bridge that will continue to severely limit the "privacy" of individuals, i.e. clearly…

According to the current laws, which are not really up to speed yet, an employer can monitor employee email if he or she has a legitimate business purpose for doing so. There is a belief that, because the employer has an email and computer system for employee use, the computer system (as well as the resulting email and browsing history) is the property of the employer. hile this makes sense, some states have enacted 'right to privacy' laws so that companies cannot make this claim against their employees and cannot monitor what they do on the Internet during company time. It then becomes difficult to balance the need to supervise and control employees with the need to make sure that those same employees' rights are not being violated by their employers. There is no clear legal rule as to what is acceptable and what is not in the field of…

Employee Privacy
Avoid liability invasion privacy Essay Question: List discuss ways employers avoid liability invasion privacy. Essay 350 words length APA format. There -text citation essay.

List and discuss different ways employers can avoid liability for invasion of privacy

Employers often justify intrusions into employee privacy based upon safety concerns: concerns about jeopardizing the health of the public can be used to allow drug and alcohol tests. Even lifestyle habits may be restricted, based upon the additional healthcare costs they can incur employers. Weight restrictions may be allowed if maintaining a certain weight is a safety hazard at some jobs, which is why "49 states allow weight standards that do not violate the ADA" (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman 2009: 682). Dating employees or the employees of a competitor business and moonlighting at another organization (which could reveal trade secrets or result in employees working too many hours to be productive) may be prohibited as…

What further makes interpretation of results difficult to precisely define quantify is that the amount of drug stores depends on the nature of the drug itself, the duration of the ingestion of the drug, and the composition of the tissue holding the drug and the frequency of use. The greater the incidence of drug use the more permanent the level of toxins and chemicals in tissues throughout the body, and therefore the greater the probability of catching chronic drug users in drug testing. Thea difficult part of using drug tests periodically is the longitudinally there may be peaks and valleys to the incidence of drug abuse. Companies have begun surprise inspections of their workers in the most potentially dangerous occupations including forklift workers, construction workers, airline pilots, and heavy equipment workers.
Despite these shortcomings of tests, the advances made in drug testing technologies are gradually overcoming these obstacles related to…

Employers may unequivocally monitor any message that utilizes company-provided email" (Sherman, 2007, pg. 649). Problems arise when the employer attempts other methods monitoring as Sherman notes; "The law is not clear, however, when an employer accesses an employee's webmail" (Sherman, pg. 649). Similar to the Deal v Spears case, the employer must take certain precautions in order to secure the right of monitoring. Many companies have developed policies and guidelines that are communicated to the employee in order to meet those requirements, but there are plenty of employee rights organizations that worry about infringement of employee privacy.
As technology can afford anonymity so to can it provide evidence that see through such anonymity. Thomas Jefferson once wrote; "Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made... And opinions change with the change…

Social Media/Workplace Conflict
Every day, most of us create permanent records of our lives and the things we do through our Internet use, emails, texts, tweets, blogs, and similar technology. Information intended for friends and family can sometimes be disseminated more widely than expected or planned. Unless one avoids these technologies altogether -- a difficult feat in today's society -- one can no longer be assured that a private life is truly private. Further complicating the issue is the use of these technologies in the workplace. The line between our public and private selves continues to blur. Current legislation is aimed at protecting privacy rights of employees in balance with employers' concerns about the use of social media during work hours and, in some cases, with the use of employer-owned devices. Legal issues can quickly become complex and there is not sufficient practical guidance to help employers navigate an increasingly challenging…

risk in terms of privacy than our medical records...do you agree? Or, are your financial records more at risk, especially given events in the news lately. Which is greater in your mind (yes, you have to pick one)? Why?
Although keeping your medical records private is important, I believe that it is more important to keep your financial records private. Identity theft is one of the most prolific crimes of the modern era. As soon as someone has your information, they can hack into your bank account and take all your money or apply for credit cards in your name, leaving you broke. It is also very difficult to prove identity theft.

Drug testing in Sports; Drug testing in the construction industry; Drug testing for retail employees; Random drug testing for all employees; what principles can you pull about the pros and cons of drug testing from these different situations?

Drug testing…

The U.S. Supreme Court has given employers "little choice" in the matter, Boyd explains. If a company "can prove" they took "reasonable care" in order to prevent or to correct inappropriate behavior, under the law they have (in many cases) "safe harbor" from punitive damages (Boyd, p. 332). The author states that sexual harassment training "…has evolved to become an ornate administrative display which has the appearance of concern…" but which in fact is "expedient in that it mitigates employer liabilities in any future court cases" (p. 332).

Charles a. Pierce, Professor of Management at the University of Memphis, offers another approach for HR managers in his article published by Human Resources Management. He asserts that "nearly 10 million workplace romances develop annually" in the U.S. And "about 40% of employees" have had a workplace romance (Pierce, et al., 2009, p. 448). The reasonable and logical point of Pierce's article is…

Burlington Nortern and Santa Fe Railway Company spokesman stated, "Te settlement is consistent wit te practice we've been following," said Ricard Russack. He also states tat te companies apologized to it's employees for running te tests and tey stopped all testing wen to suit was filed as tey were ordered.

Many in te political and medical filed and te Equal Employment Opportunity Commission temselves feel tis is a landmark settlement wic will alt any future discriminations. "Tis was te rigt result. It gives people reassurance tat te potential arms of genetic testing are going to be taken very seriously in our society," said Wylie Burke, ead of te Department of Medical History and Etics at te University of Wasington in Seattle. (Wasington Post) "Tis landmark settlement provides important new protection against te emerging treat of genetic discrimination," Senator Edward Kennedy (Wasington Post) "Te Commission will continue to respond aggressively to any…

Often, psychological testing is used to determine a candidate's approach to conflict resolution, identify the candidate's stress factors and coping mechanisms, or to possibly identify potential management skills and preferences. These and other insights are very important to potential employers, especially when it pertains to the higher-level professions and when the company has a large amount of money and a large commitment on the line.
The article concludes that psychological testing in the workplace is a good thing and that it serves a very necessary function. The disconnect between the employers' understanding of these tests and the employees' understanding is emphasized in the article as it tries to debunk the common negative myths surrounding the practice. The author's perspective is unique in that she works in the testing and test administration industry herself and is likely used to having to answer questions regarding psychological testing in the workplace on a…

Technology / Privacy / orkplace
There is a rapidly increasing use of technological monitoring in the workplace, and while technology in general has been highly beneficial to companies, the use of some technologies has raised privacy and ethical concerns among employees. This paper reviews the available literature when it comes to workplace monitoring of employees and the ethical implications of that monitoring.

Is Privacy in the orkplace a Dying Notion?

The right to privacy is a nice idea, and in some instances and circumstances in the United States an individual can reasonably expect to have his or her privacy respected. ebsites, for example, notify users frequently that their privacy is important and it is being protected. However, when it comes to the workplace, in an age of increased reliance on electronic technology, management has been able to "…monitor virtually all workplace communications" that employees have access to.

Findlaw asserts that while employees may believe…

While this may seem absurd, on the other hand, careless employees, if not monitored, could actually expose private customer data in a dangerous fashion -- an employee who accesses his work account on his computer through a wireless network in a public place could be hacked, and cause grief to a customer as well as himself.
A utilitarian might state that the greatest good for the greatest number lies in stringent scrutiny of employees -- after all, the number of people potentially harmed by security breaches is far greater than the one or two employees who must self-monitor their email more carefully. Thus employers should have the right to exercise oversight of customer data and employee use of corporate information and technology, at home and at work. But a Kantian would respond that to set such a precedent is dangerous, and leaves open the possibility that someday all workers who…

Ethics in Technology
There has been a rapidly increasing use of technology in the workplace, but while some technological advances have benefitted companies, other technologies have raised serious concerns about employee privacy.

Consequentialism and Privacy Abuses

One of the issues that arises often in the workplace when it comes to employee privacy and employer technological overreach is when employers use certain electronic surveillance practices (monitoring personal phone calls and voice messages) to basically eavesdrop on their employees (Findlaw). In fact personal privacy laws affirm that an employer may not monitor an employee's personal phone calls; albeit the company can monitor a personal call if the employee knows it is being monitored and agrees (Findlaw). One ethical theory that applies to this situation is the consequentialism, which posits that the consequence of an action determines its moral value.

One complicating aspect of this is that a manager may believe that it is moral from a…

Student Searches, Free Speech & Expression, and Privacy in the Wired Age
Student searches and in-school discipline for off-campus conduct

Free Speech and Expression on and off campus

Privacy in the wired age on and off campus. (Facebook, twitter, myspace, blogs, cellphones)

What are a students' constitutional rights when it comes to searches and seizures, on and off campus discipline, free speech, expression, and privacy in the wired age when on and off campus? How are students protected by the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights when it pertains to the three items listed above?

Students are often subject to rules and regulations that are associated with school codes of conduct and those rules and regulations are sometimes not reflective of constitutional rights to free speech and free action inside the laws. These long list of potential violations are printed by institutions and are made available to students, in secondary and postsecondary schools. Students…

multicultural workplaces face when competing in the current market. As multiculturalism begins to have more of a presence in management and leadership positions, organizations will need to address issues unique to them and modify their leadership strategies. Implementing cultural programs would be one such strategy, and it would require organizations to evolve, look inward, and make transformational change in order to create and improve multicultural employee retention. Such a strategy would create 'grooming' or succession processes for proteges; preparing employees from within the corporate structure for career advancement into leadership positions. Studies show that the benefits would be mutually beneficial in that the employee would feel appreciated which could translate into long-term gains for the organization. This will be a theoretical paper addressing the many factors contributing to the lack of ommunication clarity in multicultural workplaces and whether managers in global organizations have a greater tolerance for ambiguity.
1. Do…

…Occupational Stress and Scientific MonitoringLiterature eview2.1 IntroductionThe definition of the term occupational stress is derived from the definition of its two constituent words. In this context, occupational refers to anything that is related to the workplace while stress is defined as a natural body reaction from physical, mental or emotional strain in an individual. Thus, occupational stress can be defined as any mechanism by which the body attempts to adapt to the workplace environment. These include normal mechanisms for dealing with workplace stress, commonly known as the fight or flight response as well as any expected or unexpected reactions in response to the workplace. These include eyestrain because of staring at computer screens for too long, emotional and physical stress, depression, anxiety, aggression, cognitive impairment such as degraded memory or reduced concentration span, etc. All of these reactions can lead to poor work output, increased employee turnover, higher absenteeism, cardiovascular…

conflict can have many negative implications for an organization if it is mismanaged, some conflict is necessary for an organization to move forward. Conflict must be managed in an effective way so it generates positive policies rather than personal animosity and in-fighting between staff members.
Pinpointing the sources of conflict is essential: is the conflict due to the fact that nurses are understaffed? Are unpleasant shift times being unfairly allocated? s there a personality conflict? Addressing the root cause, particularly if it is an institution-wide, systemic issue, can be a powerful way to address conflict and reduce the likelihood of conflict being stirred up yet again in the future.

Creating mentorship programs can address specific conflict-related issues such as workplace hazing or the tendency of more experienced nurses to 'eat their young' or act cruelly to less experienced subordinate nurses. "There are mentors who believe that if they are hard on…

A consistent policy applied to all employees and applicants makes it far less likely that a business will be subject to litigation losses.
The old cliche is that "All is fair in love and war," but one might add that this includes the area of business as well. Businesses exist to make a profit and for many businesses if this means sacrificing the privacy of one or all of its employees means greater profits than it is a small price to pay. Fortunately, there are those in the business world who are aware of this philosophy and who take positive steps to develop a set of ethical standards to govern the operation of business (Tabak). The underlying attitude supporting these ethical standards is that the maintaining of ethical standards in regard to protecting the privacy of the individual is important in order to protect both the organization and its employees…

In the United States and other part of the world where internet is rapidly developing, cyber threats have continued to be on the increase. Essentially, online shopping has become a modern way of doing business, and in the United States, millions of people purchase goods and services online. To make an online shopping, individuals will need to submit their credit cards or other private information to make a purchase. Some private organizations even ask for the social security number and bank information of consumers before allowing them to make purchase of good and services. In the face of continuous use of internet for variety of activities, private consumers are increasingly facing the internet privacy threats because their private information could be compromised while sending their private data online. In the face of threats to internet privacy, effective regulations to enhance internet privacy are very critical. Although, the government have…

Business Ethics
How important is an individual's privacy in the workplace? Is an individual's privacy in the workplace the most important consideration to be taken into account? hat constitutes privacy in a workplace environment? Do the goals and the mission of the organization supersede an individual's desire to protect his or her privacy? Is it ethical for an employer to collect and disperse personal information from employees without their knowledge? How does the philosophy of utilitarianism play into this issue? This paper delves into those questions and provides supporting information for the resolution of this issue.

After careful review of the textbook for this course, after reviewing additional scholarly resources and taking into consideration a utilitarian approach to this issue -- and after researching the Australian laws regarding workplace privacy -- this paper takes the position that an individual's privacy is indeed vitally important (and must by law be protected) but not…

Personnel record

Personnel records are data pertaining to employees which consist of factual and comprehensive information of employee. All employee information is kept in systematic order which assists human resources manager to make an effective decision about employee. Typically, personnel records consist of employee past records, medical report and employee progress. Personnel record also consist of payroll records, leave records, and benefit record and turnover record. Training and development record contains training schedule, transfer cases, and appraisal reports. Health and safety record contains medical history, safety provisions, sickness reports, and insurance reports. The service record contains essential records that consist of bio-data, family information, residential information, and marital status, academic qualifications, past address and employment records. While some critics argue that personnel records is a waste of time and money, however, Yoder (1942) provides several benefits that organization could derive from personnel record:

Personnel record assists managers to identify crucial information regarding…

right of employers to engage in electronic surveillance of their employees remains an area of intense legal dispute. However, overall the courts have been expanding, rather than limiting the rights of employers to use new technology to monitor worker behavior. Workers cannot assume that they have an expectation of privacy in the public environment of the workplace. "New technologies make it possible for employers to monitor many aspects of their employees' jobs, especially on telephones, computer terminals, through electronic and voice mail, and when employees are using the Internet. Such monitoring is virtually unregulated" (Fact sheet, 2011, Privacy ights).
Because employers own workplace computers and phones, they have a right to monitor employee's use of these devices. The one exception to this rule was in a New Jersey Supreme Court case where attorney-client privilege prevented an employer from reading the communications sent by an employee to her counsel on a…

Electronic Surveillance on-The-Job: The Pros and Cons of Employee Monitoring
Modern technology has allowed employers many new capacities, including the capacity to electronically oversee employees every action while on-the-job. In recent years many employees have argued that surveillance while on-the-job is a violation of their right to privacy. Employers argue however that employees should not have a right to privacy in the workplace, especially as the employer pays them to perform a duty for the employer. Despite this almost 100% of employees likely report at one time or another engaging in some personal business while at work.

Unfortunately, there are few laws that side with the employee at this time. Most laws argue in favor of the employer, as long as the employer tells the employee of their plans about employee surveillance at the workplace. Below we'll discuss what types of surveillance corporations are now using to protect themselves, and discuss the…

If they employees agree to it as a condition of employment, rug tests can be conducted without probable cause, although in terms of 'due process,' usually an employee cannot be terminated without a justifiable cause, such as because of his or her privately political views or race. But still, some employment contracts have 'morals clauses,' for instance, if a hired actor's behavior inhibits his or her ability to do his or her job, like to be a corporate spokesperson for a children's toy company.
Employees cannot be subjected to unwarranted workplace surveillance like voyeurism, however. "In a couple of related workplace privacy lawsuits won by employees, employers claimed 'drugs' as the reason they secretly videotaped employees in company locker rooms. but, instead of revealing illegal drug use or sales, the hidden cameras embarrassingly exposed employees changing their clothes. In so many words, the courts found this to be a blatantly…

Company Policy
Draft a company policy on use of the internet by employees. Draft it in the form of a memo to employees.

Take into consideration the following issues:

Is it realistic to believe that all personal use of the internet at work can be prohibited? How do you deal with this?

Do employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy in, e.g., an email they might send at work? A website they might visit? How could your policy deal with this?

Dear Acme employees,

It has become necessary to address the employee use of internet and internet tools for personal reasons while on company time and/or company equipment. While Acme wishes to respect your privacy and allow you to fill any idle time you might have between calls or during your lunch break, bear the following in mind:

All computers and phones on Acme property are subject to be monitored at any time and for any legal…

Technology and Society
All print media including books, newspapers and magazines are in deep trouble today thanks to new developments in technology, as are traditional methods of classroom instruction and school curricula. To that extent the Internet can be described as a revolutionary invention that has altered and transformed the way information is presented and conceived. Individuals are learning and creating innovative ways to contribute to relevant knowledge at an excessive speed, and the estern world has become dependent on this technology and also more aware of its negative side. hether the technology in our surroundings is causing human beings to become distracted, affecting our communication skills, or making them stupider is a question that has to be addressed.

This memorandum will describe these issues of trivialization and the 'shallow-ing out' of contemporary American culture, most of which are either as deliberately exaggerated and sensationalized as the Internet itself or being blamed…

Dennis should have first confronted Zack about the issue to find out what was going on. If he could not get any satisfaction there then taking the issue to Tim would have been appropriate. Another solution that could have taken place would be for Dennis to report the issue to an ethics hotline in order to have it investigated by neutral parties. This of course could only happen if the company has such a line and policy in place. This type of system helps by providing employees with a way to report things that happen within the company without having to have confrontational discussions with possible offending parties.
eason

If an electronic mail (e-mail) system is utilized within a business, the employer owns it and is permitted to look at its contents whenever it wants. Messages that are sent inside the company as well as those that are sent from any…

Legal Compliance
resolve ethical issues that arise from the intersection of Law, Compliance & Investigations

Ethics, law, and compliance

There is always a need to balance the individual's right to privacy with a government or business' right to investigate breaches of security, whether of a technical or non-technical matter. "New technologies make it possible for employers to monitor many aspects of their employees' jobs that "they could not previously, and "such monitoring is virtually unregulated. Therefore, unless company policy specifically states otherwise (and even this is not assured), your employer may listen, watch and read most of your workplace communication" (Fact Sheet 7, 2012, Privacy ights Clearinghouse). Most companies take advantage of the fact that the law is on their side regarding workplace monitoring. "Of the 43% of companies that monitor e-mail, nearly three-fourths use technology to automatically monitor e-mail. And 28% of employers have fired workers for e-mail misuse" (Fact Sheet 7,…

Often companies find that when they first install filtering software or routers, the sites and communications employees need to do their jobs cannot be done. What is needed then is a gradual move to include those sites and types of communications with outside suppliers, buyers, customers, resellers, services organizations and other key constituents. The use of monitoring however is prevalent, according to the American Management Associated; fully 76% of companies from their 2005 survey on this subject actively monitor the use of websites and filter them based on content (American Management Association 2005). The momentum in businesses t measure, monitor and modify their Acceptable Use Policies is now in full-swing, and the development of these policies must be governed by the broader strategic needs of the company on the one hand and the need to ensure an acceptable environment for employees to work in on the other (Pauli, 2001).
Method

The…

law should be used as a tool for shaping a shared moral climate? Why or why not? Should moral values be written into the law and enforced? Can you think of any examples where a change in the law seemed to improve the moral climate of society?
In general, I would say that the government should stay away from enforcing a moral climate in the sense that there has to be the question asked whether someone is harmed or not. However, "harm" is a very loaded term when it comes to some topics and this includes some things that are entirely legal. For example, adultery is assailed as a wrong thing to do. It can obviously break up relationships/marriages and any kids in the mix can be greatly impacted. However, while such tawdry details may (or may not) matter when a divorce or child custody hearing is done, it is…

SOPA & PIPA Legislation
File sharing involving copyright infringement began as peer-to-peer operations, sometimes with the involvement of a central server that acts as a search engine. Recently there has been a rise in file sharing where the infringing content is actually stored on the central server, such as the now-defunct megaupload.com. Consequently, there is a conflict between the rights of content owners and the rights of ordinary users of the internet. The conflict here is that efforts to eliminate sites that enable online infringing may also eliminate legitimate internet activity. In the fall of 2011 the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) proposals were introduced into the U.S. Congress. Almost certainly, the SOPA and PIPA proposals to go after file sharers go too far in the other direction in violating the free speech rights of individual users and handing the web even more over to…

Legal Aspects of Professional Psychology
All psychologists are required to follow the ethical guidelines found in the 2002 Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct of the American Psychological Association (APA), commonly known as the Ethics Code. Other important ethical guidelines are found in the 2007 Competing Development Achievement Levels (DALs) of the National Council of Schools and Programs in Professional Psychology (NCSPP) and the Assessment of Competing Benchmarks Work Group of the APA. These ethics codes cover compliance, privacy and confidentiality, assessment, therapy, research and publications, and there are also special guidelines for dealing with children, minorities, culturally diverse populations, forensic psychology and gay and lesbian clients. Both the Ethics Code and state laws require psychologists to maintain the confidentiality of clients and their records, apart from legal requirements to report verified or suspected child abuse or clients who are a danger to others. Psychologists can only provide services…

Wal-Mart is also deemed to be a company that greatly mistreats and discriminates against its employees but there has apparently been no reliable empirical data to back that up (Van iper, 2008).
The article concludes by conceding to some Wal-Mart critics. First, Wal-Mart cites Ohio University professor ichard Vedder, who points out that Bureau of Labor Statistics Data holds that Wal-Mart's wage structure lags behind the retail sector as a whole (Van iper, 2008)

elative to what Wal-Mart pays its employee and the benefits they bestow, a third source was widely condemnatory of Wal-Mart and insisted that it could and should be paying its employees more…a lot more. The average associate at Wal-Mart, per this story, makes an average of not quite twelve dollars an hour. If annualized, that would be below the United States poverty line. The story's author insists that wages and benefits are not higher simply because Wal-Mart…

National security cards also have the ability to provide useful information and insight to policymakers on which areas of a given country will most likely be the least secure and which pose potential security threats (Ortmeier, 2009). This will also force nations to into strategic identity management systems and taxonomies of how they classify threats to their populations. The use of analytics and big data or exceptionally large and complex data sets, will become commonplace in five years or less as a result of the adoption of national security cards across more nations in the world (Ortmeier, 2009). National security cards will also be increasingly used for managing healthcare, human services and social programs, as the United Kingdom has successfully done for example. The broader implications to the future of security from the use of national identity cards are evident in how advanced forms of security authentication continue to…

Part 2 - Reflective Diary

The security of customer's data is very critical in the contemporary business environment because of the increase in the data breach that could make organizations to face bad publicity within and outside the United States. Essentially, organizations are required to secure employees' and customers' data to enhance Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) within the IT environment. One of the strategies to enhance customers' privacy is to implement data encryption. Encryption is a strategy of encoding data file where only authorized user can only have access to a secret "key' in order to read the data. The major impact of encryption is that it will prevent unauthorized access to organizational data, which will consequently enhance data protection and privacy. oreover, securing information will make organization to be in line with the IT ethical standard, which will consequently enhance organizational public image.

Despite the security platform implemented by many organizations,…

Human Need for Privacy
Environmental psychology is the study of the interaction between the physical world and human behavior. In recent years, the topic of privacy has been a key aspect of this field of study, as research reveals that it directly relates to a sense of well being and control. A supportive physical environment has been proven to contribute to a successful social, private and work life, and privacy is a key factor in creating a positive environmental setting.

hy e Need Privacy

There are many theories as to why people need privacy. Many psychologists believe that people need to maintain personal space between themselves and others to avoid overstimulation. According to Scott (1993), when people are too close to one another, they are bombarded with too many social or physical stimuli.

Some researchers argue that people need to maintain personal space to avoid various stressors associated with very close proximity. This group…

Organization Behavior
Human esource Management Policies of Wal-Mart

Employment Law Wal-Mart

Human esource Management Policies of Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart is a large scale multinational retailer that employs more than 2.2 million employees in 27 countries. The management of this large workforce requires it to implement effective human resource management and employment relations policies at its workplace. Wal-Mart believes in effective recruitment and selection process in order to fill the vacant job positions with the most talented and skillful employees. It uses one way and two way virtual interviewing techniques in order to minimize its heavy recruitment and administrative costs. Wal-Mart generally fills its vacant job positions from the industry through fresh graduate induction and experienced professionals. It trains them through different methods in order to make them learn the most advanced knowledge related to their job responsibilities.

The Wal-Mart workforce consists of individuals from different cultures, nationalities, and races. In order to manage this culturally dispersed…

Psychology -- the Effects of Population Density and Noise
Population density affects territoriality, privacy, personal space and noise levels. These four psychological elements involve perception and high population density affects all of them in ways that are physiologically and psychologically harmful to humans. Through decades of experience and study, experts have learned to use perception to reduce the harmful effects of high population density. The introduction of nature and the use of design to create the perception of ample space can dramatically reduce the harmful effects of high population density on territoriality, privacy and personal space. In addition, the uses of noise masking and noise-absorbing materials have reduced the harmful effects of noise. Just as perception can increase harm, perception can also decrease harm.

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a. Population Density

"Population density" is the number of people residing in an area divided by the size of that area (National Geographic Society). Population density rises as the…

Work-Home Balance
Let's reports firing line question work/home balance, perspectives. First,'s employers advised issues, a wide variety sources expressing glee opportunities opened technology employers -opt -increasing portions employees' lives: Lane, S. Business history and future plans letter

The work-home balance

Technology is both a benefit and a bane to employees and employers alike. From an employee perspective, technology enables telecommuting and reduces 'real world' commuting time. It permits parents to remain with their young children if necessary -- as well as for an employee to work in pajamas. Also, if there is a problem at work, the employee may be able to deal with it virtually, either from a home computer, or even using a Blackberry or Smartphone, rather than going into the office. The downside, however, is that because employees can check their email even while on vacation, employers may expect them to do so. The workday can become never-ending, as the…

Qualified privilege has the same result as absolute privilege, but does not protect statements that can be proven to have been made with malicious intent (Pember, & Calvert, 2005).
The church would argue that they had a qualified privilege to communicate Steve's personal indiscretions due to the fact that they have the right to practice their religion. They will say that the disclosing of personal indiscretions is somehow a religious practice in their church and that everyone must disclose their indiscretions to them so that they can then make these public so that other people can help the person with their problems. They would argue that the statements were important facts to be known in the public interest in the carrying out of their religious practices.

d. Is there a legal difference in disclosing personal indiscretions to other elders, to members of the church, or to members of the public?

In trying…

Practice & Critical Thinking
Harassment & Bullying in the Workplace

Many people are familiar with bullying in schools and other places where children and young adults spend time, but workplaces are becoming increasingly toxic places where bullies feel they can harass and intimidate other workers (Barnes, 2012). Now that bullying problems have begun to take place in the workplace so frequently, the issue is coming to light and more must be done about it. A recent bullying situation took place at my workplace, but I was not the one being bullied. Unfortunately, the person on the receiving end of the bullying is not good at standing up for herself, so she gets bullied quite a bit. She is overweight, which contributes to the jokes and giggles that happen around her. She is a very kind and generous person, though, and it is a shame the other workers fail to see that.…

The board is intended to be an agent for the shareholders, yet the agency problem results when the interests of the board are more closely aligned with management. This renders the board to be more sympathetic to management, even if that comes at the expense of stringent governance and dedication to protecting the interest of the shareholders.
3) the most important of the privacy guidelines in obtaining consent. The employee-employer relationship should be based on trust and that trust must work both ways. The employer wants to gather information to protect itself, but the employee should also be protected. By giving the employee the choice to give or not give consent, trust is built. The second most important is to respect the boundary between work and home. Employees are paid for on-the-job performance, and should therefore be evaluated on the same basis. The employer should respect that they merely hire…

To ensure the deontological validity of the agreement, the specific requirements of Article VII therefore need to be somewhat modified and restipulated. ather than allowing no other employment, there could for example be some conditions that govern other ventures to supplement the military services income.
Of course it must be understood that the military is a highly confidential entity, and that no information or service should be divulged to other, similar agencies. From the utilitarian viewpoint, the military is served best when the type of service provided by its employees remains exclusive to the company. However, from the deontological viewpoint, it should also be understood that the employee is in a position where his or her finances from exclusive service to the military are insufficient for the rising costs of living.

Hence a provision could be included in Article VII: rather than allowing no other employment, the provision could state that…