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Employee Privacy Rights in the Workplace Workplace privacy is, probably, one of the most stirring issues. In general, employee privacy is defined by Bennett and Locke (1998) as the general right of the individual to be let alone. Yet, it is very difficult to define the extent to which employees privacy should be respected, if any. When it comes to workplace privacy and the rights of the employees in their workplaces, some employers consider that the rights may be curtained. What does it mean? Nowadays, almost every corporation monitors their employees activity, including tapping employees telephone conversation (business and private), inspection, checking and controlling the information employee sends in his e-mail (or monitoring internet-pages the employee visits during his working hours), inspection of the information the employee keeps in his computer, to mention a few.
For example, as it is claimed by Jayme S. Ganey, about 80 % of the companies monitor their employees communications in internet (monitoring instant messages, checking phone calls, Web traffic, and e-mails). Many companies also use video monitors to monitor employees activity for security purposes, as the employers are afraid of news and security leak. The employees have different attitude in relation to this issue. Some of them consider this control to be an integral part of their work, as there should be no privacy in the workplace. They explain video monitoring by the reason that the honest employee has nothing to hide from the management of the company, and, certainly, the responsible employee is busy with job-related issues alone.
At the same time, the second part of the employees considers that such sort of control violated their privacy, as the right of privacy is often conceptualized as a matter of freedom (Bennett 1998). So, what are the recommendations related to the issues of workplace privacy? First of all, it is recommended to avoid using business e-mail for personal purposes. It means that the employee should avoid using business e-mail to send his friends personal e-mails, e-cards, jokes, etc. As a rule, every company has a person responsible for e-mail inspection.
The employee should also remember that his e-mails can be forwarded to other people. Therefore, it is necessary to understand that in case the person wants some information to be kept in secret, hed better use his private mobile phone instead of corporate phone or business e-mail. The employee should never visit web sites that are not related to his professional activity. He should remember that the company has to archive all electronic business records, therefore, there is a high probability personal messages will remain archived, and could be checked later on. Jayme S. Ganey (2007) recommends to spend no time on personal matters at work and to compose messages as if your boss, the media or even your mom were reading them.
The employee should know his liabilities in order to correspond to the companys security policies. From here it follows that every employee should have right to know about the policy (or the kind of policy related to workplace privacy) the company implements. It is highly recommended to a newcomer to ask for a copy of workplace policy in order to understand what kind of activity the employee should avoid doing in the workplace. From this standpoint Attorney Ian D. Meklinsky (2007), a partner in the Princeton office of Fox Rothschild's Labor and Employment Group, recommends using employee handbooks, in order to inform them of company policies, work rules and benefits. Most important of all is the fact that employee handbooks will increase employees awareness of the companys policies and will allow them avoiding unnecessary conflicts and misunderstandings in the workplace related to workplace privacy.
References Privacy in the Workplace: A Practical Primer, Bennett, S, & Locke S. , Jan/ 98; Vol. 49 Issue 1 p 781, 7 p, Labor Law Journal Is Your Boss Watching You? Ganey, J. , Essence; May 2007, Vol. 38 Issue 1, p 118 - 118, 2 / 3, 1 c The Benefits of Employee Handbooks, Meklinsky, I. , ii; 4 / 23 / 07, Vol. 20 Issue 17, p 29 - 29, 1 / 2 p
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Research essay sample on Employee Privacy Rights In The Workplace
