Eveasedropping on Employees

Employees need to remember that their privacy rights at work range from few to none. Take a look at workforce.com's Quick Takes -- March 11, 2008:

"Eavesdropping on Employees: Spurred by fears of litigation and diminishing productivity, U.S. employers are keeping close tabs on employees’ workplace activities. The American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute say nearly half of U.S employers have fired employees for misusing corporate e-mail or Internet access. About two-thirds use software to prevent employees from surfing the Web for porn and other questionable content—up 27 percent since 2001, when the two organizations launched their annual Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey."

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Aside from listening in and peering over employees’ shoulders virtually, many companies (45 percent) monitor their phone use as well. And 16 percent go so far as to record phone conversations. But according to the survey, nearly 85 percent of companies let employees know they are being surreptitiously observed.