Got Trouble? We can help.

According to labor law, It depends on whom you work for. If you work in a government job (federal, state, or local), you usually have more protections against surveillance, because government agencies are subject to Constitutional prohibitions against invasion of privacy. If you work for a private employer, your state might have labor laws protecting you from surveillance.

Even if there are labor laws that protect you from some surveillance, it's probably legal for your employer to monitor you for work purposes, as long as he tells you ahead of time and the surveillance is not unreasonably intrusive on your personal privacy. For example, putting a visible camera in your work area is probably OK. On the other hand, it is probably illegal for your employer to put a camera in a bathroom or a changing room unless there was some compelling reason to do so, such as a report to the employer that drug sales were occurring in the bathroom. This is a complicated area, so you should check with a labor law attorneys to see if your state has good privacy protections.

Can my employer listen to my phone calls at work?

If the employer has a good reason to listen to your calls (e.g., to find out how you treat your customers over the phone), the employer can probably monitor your phone calls as long as the employer notifies you ahead of time. On the other hand, labor laws state that it might be an invasion of privacy if the employer listens to phone calls without a business reason to do so.

If the phone call involves customer contact, then the employer probably has to get the customer's consent as well. That's why you hear those phone recordings that say something like "This call may be monitored or recorded for quality control purposes." That's the employer's way of notifying you and the customer that the call will be monitored. If you have questions, consult with a labor law attorney in your area.