Privacy is important, and something that most people are extremely protective of. However, certain situations may put these people in situations where their privacy may be compromised. One of these situations is the employer-employee relationship, particularly to do with an employee’s Internet and email use. Employees who worry about this kind of thing may be wondering, are employers allowed to monitor their Internet usage, or read their emails?
Privacy concerns: is your employer allowed to monitor your Internet and email usage?
Your employer is allowed to monitor your work email usage, as frustrating a fact that may be. When disputes have occurred over such monitoring, courts have usually sided with the employer on this matter. Employers will also often make clear that your email usage is considered to be accessible to them, such that you do not have to worry about whether this is going to happen. On top of this, it also helps the employee avoid using their work email improperly. However, if your employer made clear at any point that you had an expectation of privacy with your work email, you may have a leg to stand on if they break that expectation of privacy. The main reason why businesses monitor your email is due to the fact that they may be held liable if someone is doing something illegal through their email. As such, your employer may have the desire to cover their butts, and in turn, take seriously any infraction made on their company’s email or Internet.
When it comes to an employee’s personal email, that becomes a little more complicated. Often, if you are checking your web-based personal email on work machines, that email may be subject to monitoring (much like how your browsing history may be monitored). This will usually be indicated beforehand. If it was not indicated to be monitored beforehand, and you discover that they have been monitoring your personal email’s contents, this could land them in legal trouble. If a contract was signed where you are informed that your Internet access may be monitored, this means that you should be somewhat mindful of what you do while browsing the Internet. Avoid any controversial websites, and if you think that your employer will be upset over goofing off, be careful about going to a website like Reddit. If you have the desire to browse the web while at work, your best option is to use your mobile phone, especially on data. That way, they cannot even make the claim that you were using their Internet connection.
It is important to understand that not all businesses will monitor you. According to a 2007 survey, only 43 percent of employers monitor employees’ Internet usage, while 66 percent of employers monitor employees’ Internet usage. However, if you are working at a business that does engage in this behavior, know that they probably are not doing manual reviews of your email or Internet usage. In 2007, it was simply infeasible to hire people to manually scrawl through employees’ entire work emails and Internet usage. Can you imagine how much harder it is nowadays? Anyway, a vast majority of those that monitor these things use automated tools in order to quickly scan your email for certain keywords and red flags. One common method is to search for inappropriate words, such as swear words. A swear word does not necessarily mean that the employer is doing something inappropriate, but it cannot be denied that most employers would find it eyebrow raising if someone is saying curse words to each other. It may indicate some level of hostility, either between the two employees, or employees talking about other employees. Both of these are bad for your business’ morale and run the risk of distracting employees from doing what they are supposed to do.
Because employers tend to use an automated process in order to look through your email usage, the best strategy is to simply mind both what you say and how you say it. A person can easily continue to be catty and engage in office gossip, so long as they do it appropriately, avoiding getting flagged as a result. One of the things that is important to understand is that if an employer is monitoring your email and/or Internet usage, they likely have a reason to be doing so. Whether that reason is good or not is neither here nor there, and if you have been monitored and know it, it is important to learn exactly why you are being monitored. It is entirely possible that your employer is monitoring your email in order to find cause to fire you. While monitoring email on its own may not be an issue, if your employer is targeting you without cause, it could be understood to be unfairly targeting you. Another issue is if your employer is monitoring only certain kinds of employees. For instance, if every employee that is being monitored is of a certain race, or women, or LGBT, which could be seen as discrimination, which would put your employer in hot water.
Another reason employers may monitor their employers is to keep an eye out for anyone who is planning to unionize. Automated monitoring software can be easily designed to look for any keywords that relate to unions or unionization, and in turn, the employer can know which employees they have to get rid of. This kind of behavior is highly illegal, as employers are not allowed to retaliate against employees for unionizing or attempting to unionize. Attempts to prevent employees from unionizing are usually more subtle. For example, when unionization was being voted on with Amazon.com, Amazon never threatened employees with termination or pay cuts. Instead, they spread information (often misinformation) regarding the downsides of unionization and how bad it will be for employees who unionize. This had the effect of not only making employees believe the misinformation, but even get the idea that their job may be on the line if they try to unionize. As such, your employer may engage in behavior to dissuade unionization without actually breaking the law.
If you feel that your employer is engaging in unfair or discriminatory behavior, your best option is to consult with an employment lawyer in Tampa. They will look over your case and determine whether your employer has been behaving inappropriately with how they have monitored you. If it is determined that your employer has violated your rights, the employment attorney will do everything in their power to represent you to the best of their ability.