Privacy Issues in the Workplace

The same result would also most likely apply for searches of other electronic information provided by an outside service provider. To the extent that a government entity does not directly control an employee's electronic information that is being sought, the government entity would need to get permission from the employee to search it or otherwise get a warrant or court order to compel a third party service provider to disclose such information.

Here are a few best practices public employers can follow:

LCW Practice Advisor

 Review and revise electronic communications policies to limit an employee's expectations of privacy in the use of government-owned electronic devices and the use of work email maintained by the governmental entity;  Reinforce that a public employee's authorization to use a government-owned electronic device is at the sole discretion of the government entity and can be modified or revoked at any time, that such electronic devices are subject to search, and an employee is obligated to surrender the electronic device back to the government entity at any time; and  Seek legal counsel before compelling a public employee to allow a search of their personally owned electronic devices or of personal electronic information that is maintained by an outside service provider and not directly controlled by the government entity.

G. G UIDELINES F OR E LECTRONIC C OMMUNICATIONS IN THE W ORKPLACE Employers have legitimate reasons for ensuring that their electronic communications systems are not abused by employees. In California, courts would likely find that an employee does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy when he or she has given written consent to monitoring of the employer’s computers and electronic system. 473 For this reason, employers must have a written Electronic Communications Resources Policy that puts employees on notice of the following:  Electronic communications such as voicemail, e-mail and/or systems accessible via the Internet are the employer’s property and should only be used for legitimate business purposes during working hours. This prohibition is not meant to interfere with an employee’s right to organize or discuss the terms and conditions of his/her employment with others during nonworking hours through the use of employer email systems.

Privacy Issues in the Workplace ©2021 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 151