There is no single federal law regulating privacy issues for private employers on a broad basis; however, there are various federal laws that regulate specific aspects of an employee’s privacy that arise during the course of employment. There are also state and common law (court-created law) considerations that impact workplace privacy.
As a general rule of thumb, for an employer to try and avoid invasion of privacy complaints by employees they should ensure that:
- Any information gathered during the employment relationship serves a businesses’ “need to know”,
- The information is gathered by the least intrusive method,
- The information is maintained in a confidential manner designed to prevent unauthorized access, and
- That information is not used “unfairly” by the employer or a third party.
When dealing with any of the following areas, be aware that there are ramifications with regard to an employee’s privacy:
- Personnel Records/Files (see Sample Human Resource Records Policy)
- Medical Information
- Credit and Financial Information
- Education Information
- Wire, Oral and Electronic Communications
- Alcohol and Drug Abuse diagnosis, treatment or other information
- Alcohol and Drug testing
- Personal History Questionnaires
- Surveillance and Investigations
- Using an employee’s name and/or likeness without their written permission
- Employment Application
- Responding to requests for employee information by third parties
- Searches (body, personal property, or company property)
- Anti-Trust Law Compliance
- Disclosure of Union Activity
- Off-duty Activity or Behavior (i.e. Smoking)
- Business Ethics (see Sample Business Ethics And Conduct Policy and Acknowledgement Page)
- Confidential Information Leaks (see Sample Confidential Information Policy)