March 07, 2010
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Employee Rights News You Can Use
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Hello,
I hope you are having a blessed New Year! 2010 promises to have many exciting, challenging, changing and disturbing things taking place on the job. As a valued subscriber to Basic Employee Rights eNewsletter I pledge to continue to provide quality info you can use to enhance your employment experience. Why? Because I'm also an employee who makes it his business to stay on top of what's happening at work.
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Date March 7, 2010
Issue #12
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Article
Do you have a right to workplace privacy?
Using the company's privately-owned internal e-mail system does not give privacy rights to employees. Many employees assume e-mail communications at work are private. They erroneously think sending an email is like making a telephone call. The Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act makes it illegal to eavesdrop telephone calls.
However, as employees we have to understand the key is "company owned". We can't say "It's my cubicle!", "It's my interoffice envelope!", "It's my desk"!, "It's my laptop or desktop pc!" Rights against "unreasonable search and seizure" apply to private citizens in the U.S. and it's territories. Employees like myself that works for government employers usually have additional privacy protection.
Over 90% of private employers use some form of electronic surveillance to "spy" on their employees. Employers have a right to protect their businesses and all company owned assets from damage or theft. Employers are legally obligated to provide a safe and secure workplace. Protecting the rights of employees is another reason drawing the line between what's private and what's not is so important.
There is no federal workplace privacy law that protects job seekers and employees from bosses "snooping" on them. When I use the company email system it's not private. When I use the company car it's not private. Any files I create, manipulate or change on the company pc or laptop is not private. Any area on company property I visit is not private. Every career seeker and employee should NEVER assume their U.S. Constitutional Rights apply in the workplace.
There are situations when our employers may create an "implied right to privacy". For example, if the job interviewer says, "We respect our employees privacy" or "We won't do any searches". If you've heard your boss say this or similar language, they may have established an expectation of privacy for you. Here are other ways your employer may provide "implied workplace privacy" rights.
-No statements in the employee handbook addressing privacy rights on the job
-No requirement to sign documents stating any limited privacy expectations involving your job description
-No specific explanation of privacy expectations involving company access to cardkeys, passcards, door keys or passwords
Employees should also be aware that friends or family that visit employees at work have even less expectation of privacy, mainly because of security considerations. The bottomline is this, in the absence of any federal law that gives employees specific privacy rights; our employers have a lot of latitude in deciding what workplace privacy rights are.
There is a lot more great info on workplace privacy to be found here;
http://eCa.sh/XkHt
Many employees I talk to complain about the increase in various violations they are being exposed to. One of the biggest areas of complaints involves gender discrimination. With the ongoing economic crisis and other factors learning basic employee rights has never been more important!
More blessing to come,
Yancey
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Top Tip!
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Make sure to document
Always keep track of work info by making notes and keeping copies of your bosses notes. Keep a daily dairy of significant events that may negatively impact your employment. For example, what if your employer surprises you with less pay on your check than expected. Maintaining a daily log or dairy of your start and stop times along with pay stubs could show you short changed on your paycheck!
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The Next Issue of Basic Employee Rights eNews!
Do you have a right to workplace privacy?
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CONTACT US
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PUBLISHING SCHEDULE
Your Basic Employee Rights eNews is published the first week of the month, 12 weeks per year. From time to time we will publish special features that affect employees in the workplace.
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DISCLAIMER
Note: Any and all information provided within this Newsletter/Ezine is for educational and general information purposes only. It is NOT INTENDED as legal advice. Please review this specific disclaimer;
www.you-can-learn-basic-employee-rights.com/disclaimer
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Written by Yancey Thomas Jr.
Owner, you-can-learn-basic-employee-rights.com
(c)copyright 2010 you-can-learn-basic-employee-rights.com
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