Monitoring Employee Communication

Two of the top concerns for employers should be creating a secure work environment and protecting the privacy of company and customer/client information. To that end, some employers choose to ban the use of personal phone mobile devices by employees while they are at work. However, it’s important to understand the limitations of such policies. Invasion of Privacy is a common law tort that protects individuals’ privacy from intrusions or unwanted breaches of privacy. Similarly, under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), any electronic, oral, or wire communications are protected while they are made, stored, or in transit. For employers, this means that they are not permitted to listen to, or disclose, information stemming from personal conversations by employees, whether by cell phone or email. 

Employers are still within their rights to ban personal calls in the workplace and screen phone calls for compliance, but once it is determined that a personal conversation is taking place, employers are obligated to discontinue the monitoring of that communication. In general, the ECPA does not provide many protections for employee privacy with regard to communications carried out on employer-provided equipment. And so, many employers will opt to record phone calls made on employees’ work phones to use in gauging customer support efforts and customer satisfaction. Before recording any communication, please be aware of your state laws and follow guidance provided your attorney regarding the required consent and permission of the parties. 

Employers should disclose all policies about communication monitoring in their Employee Handbook to avoid any confusion and misaligned expectations about privacy.  If you have any questions or would like to learn more about creating a communication policy for your company, please contact us at info@denovorhrc.com. #ECPA #Employers #PrivacyRights