In spite of the fact that workers monitoring systems do not directly contravene the law, they add to creating a unreceptive work environment, that is offensive both from ethical and legal standpoints. There is Privacy Act that includes primary law related to members of staff privacy rights. This law forbids third parties to receive disclosing or accessing information personal exchange of ideas, to any outer parties without previous consent from the recipient or author. The two major exceptions to the law are that employer has the privilege to monitor workers’ conversation under the circumstances if they take place during the everyday business hours and adding the indirect permission on the side of employees. By themselves, issues do arise in situations when a worker has not been informed beforehand about possible footage.
This law gives virtually unrestricted rights to employers; though, with the increasing number of legal events against employers’ disobedience of employee privacy rights, the necessity for a change has been approved. To be more exact, legislation proposes to limit employers in electronic monitoring staff and applies to analysis, reporting, storage and collection of information connected with employees either partially or as whole by wire, radio, photo-optical, photo-electronic, or electromagnetic system. Under this statement, employers have to use notification techniques to inform their employees about the forthcoming monitoring, detail which private data would be collected and in which way it will be used. Employer also don’t a right to monitor rest room, dressing room, and locker room facilities. Employers would be charged for each abuse for $10.000 as a minimum.
Even though the Act about privacy has not been accepted yet, the requirement for legal adjustments that protect workers’ privacy privileges has been acknowledged. Going even further, the growing number of officially permitted actions initiated by staff seeking defense from state judges also proves that there is a noticeable need to keep a tight rein on employer monitoring.