Workplace Privacy and Confidentiality

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)