Avoid Charges of Illegal Snooping
Avoid Charges of Illegal Snooping…..What if an employer looks in an employee’s desk drawer? The employee learns of this and is upset. The incident raises questions such as: Do employees have a right to privacy? What does an employer need to know about privacy rights? Keep reading for answers.
Avoid Charges of Illegal Snooping
Q. One of my employees is upset because I looked in his desk drawer. He’s claiming I invaded his privacy. What exactly does this mean? What do I need to know about the privacy rights of my employees?
A. Employees have the right to be protected from unreasonable intrusions into their private affairs.
The questions here are, what is unreasonable and what is private? The meaning of “unreasonable” is up for grabs because it often means whatever a court says it means. And what is “private,” at least in some instances, amounts to what ever the employee’s expectation of privacy is. And, answering the questions of what is unreasonable and what is private is further complicated by specific provisions of some federal laws, by some state constitutional provisions and by some state laws.
Here are some examples of specific employee privacy issues.
Applicant Interviews. Applicants have a right not to answer questions about and reveal personal information about topics which could lead to an employer illegally discriminating in hiring. Therefore, in the interviewing and hiring process, the employer must avoid topics (such as the applicant’s marital and family status or the applicant’s nationality) which might result in a discriminatory hiring decision.
Applicant Testing. Under the Americans with Disabilities ACT and similar state laws, applicants have a right not to be required to undergo any testing or examinations that might reveal physical or mental conditions that could result in an employer illegally discriminating on the basis of a real or perceived disability.
