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Privacy

HR gossip girl: The risk of divulging employees’ secrets

11/09/2010
As an HR professional, you have an open door. And you’re always encouraging employees to ask questions about their benefits. But sometimes, that door needs to be shut … and so should your mouth. As a new lawsuit shows, repeating even the question asked by an employee can trigger a multi-claim lawsuit …

How should we go about implementing a system for recording employees’ phone conversations?

10/15/2010
Q. Many of our employees spend most of their time dealing with customers over the phone. For quality control purposes and to make sure workers aren’t making personal telephone calls, we would like to record the calls employees make on company telephones. Is that legal?

Bay Area worker files sexual orientation harassment suit

10/15/2010
A former clerical worker is suing a San Francisco Bay Area-based trucking company, claiming he was harassed and subsequently fired for asking about medical benefits for his same-sex partner.

How to draft a social networking company policy

10/12/2010
According to a recent survey, 22% of employees say they use some form of social networking five or more times per week, and 15% admit they access social networking while at work for personal reasons. Yet, only 22% of companies have a formal policy that guides employees in how they can use social networking at work. Here’s why you need one—and what it should include.

Supremes start work: 3 employment law cases on High Court docket this year

10/05/2010
The Supreme Court term that began yesterday will decide three important employment law cases. Here’s our round-up of upcoming High Court arguments that could affect background checks, discipline and firings and the tricky issue of determining the employment eligibility of foreign-born workers.

You can insist on investigation confidentiality

09/10/2010

Make it a policy to keep it confidential when conducting internal investigations into discrimination or harassment. That way, rumors and exaggerated claims won’t influence other employees who haven’t yet told investigators their side of the story. Employers that terminate employees for violating that confidentiality needn’t worry that doing so is retaliation, at least according to a recent 11th Circuit decision.

How should we handle a deceased worker’s e-mail?

09/08/2010
Q. A deceased employee’s spouse has asked us for copies of personal e-mails that were on the employee’s work computer. Can we provide her copies?

Lesson from the court: Never disclose former employees’ medical info

08/20/2010

“Hi, this is Mike from XYZ Company. I’d like to ask you a few questions about a former employee whom you used to manage.” At some point in managers’ careers, they’ll receive such a phone call from an ex-employee’s prospective employer. Be careful: One simple mistake in your response could trigger an expensive lawsuit. Remember: Never disclose medical information about former employees.

It’s time to review your e-monitoring policies

07/27/2010
A long-awaited Supreme Court ruling has reiterated the importance of all employers to draft and enforce a comprehensive electronic communications policy governing how employees can use e-mail, the Internet, cell phones and text services.

May we check an employee message sent from work to his personal e-mail?

07/23/2010
Q. One of our sales managers thinks a salesperson has been e-mailing confidential customer information to his personal e-mail address. Can we review the salesperson’s sent-messages file on the company’s e-mail server to see what he has been sending out?