by Justin H. Lessner

For many years, it has been common practice for banks, retail stores, gas stations, and other employers that regularly interact with the public to use video surveillance to prevent theft and ensure security. But what if an employer wants to use video surveillance in the workplace to monitor the conduct and performance of its employees? 

Prohibition against use of video cameras

There’s no outright prohibition in federal law against using video cameras in the workplace, assuming cameras aren’t installed in a bathroom, locker room, or some other area where employees have a high expectation of privacy. Along those lines, many states have privacy statutes that prohibit anyone from installing surveillance devices in private places. Employers using surveillance cameras should be careful not to include audio in the recordings because that may run afoul of federal and state wiretapping and eavesdropping laws. read more…

by Alina Marciniak

It happens. You perform a Google search for your organization and come across a poor online review by a former employee. Regardless of whether such public feedback is accurate, the issue of employer reviews has been growing more prominent for a number of years. Employer review sites like Glassdoor and Vault that allow current and former employees to criticize or praise a company through anonymous postings have become increasingly popular, with as many as 33 million Glassdoor users and more than 600,000 companies reviewed. 

A recently published study by the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria found that companies with positive online employee reviews hold a significant recruiting advantage with jobseekers compared to companies with neutral or negative reviews. The study confirmed that workers view online reviews by employees on Glassdoor as a reliable source of information. The study also found that employees assigned greater importance to online reviews than recognition awards for best HR management practices. read more…

by Maggie A. Hanson

Not only have technology and social media permeated political and pop culture, but they have also entered the workplace. Consequently, employers and employees are embroiled in a constant battle over Internet use in the workplace.

Some employee Internet use is for legitimate business purposes, but a significant portion is for personal reasons (e.g., communicating with friends and family, planning social events, or posting comments on social media). Accordingly, employers have rightfully developed certain suspicions about employees’ Internet use. Are employees using the Internet to browse inappropriate content? Are they posting derogatory comments about their employer? Because the questions don’t stop there, employers must decide whether there’s a reason to search employees’ accounts and, if incriminating information is discovered, discipline employees for their inappropriate communications or posts. read more…

by Elijah Yip

On January 1, 2017, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) Office of the General Counsel released an advice memorandum (dated September 22, 2016) reviewing the social media policy in Northwestern University’s revised football handbook. The memorandum contains valuable guidance in an area full of uncertainty. The NLRB has struck down seemingly commonsense social media policies because of their potential to dissuade employees from exercising their rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to engage in “concerted activities.” Section 8 of the NLRA prohibits employers from restraining employees in the exercise of their Section 7 rights.  read more…

by Milton Whitfield and Jayna Genti

In a 2016 Cost of Data Breach Study, the Ponemon Institute, which conducts independent research on data protection, found that malicious or criminal attacks continue to be the primary cause of data breaches nationwide. According to the study, 50% of cyberattack incidents involved a malicious or criminal attack, 23% were caused by negligent employees, and 27% involved system glitches that included both IT and business process failures. (The study is available at https://securityintelligence.com/media/2016-cost-data-breach-study/.) 

Costs of a data breach

The Ponemon Institute’s study documents not only the prevalence of data breaches and their causes but also the monetary consequences of a breach. According to the study, the increase in the costs associated with data breaches is due, in large measure, to three types of expenditures: read more…

by Al Vreeland

Usually we talk about employees who sue their employers over their termination or some other perceived mistreatment. But in this post , we take a look at an employer who flipped the table and sued its former employee over the cost of discovering and fixing damage wrought by his misconduct. Although it’s not always applicable, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) provides a useful tool for employers to recover the cost of undoing the bad things employees do while using company computers. 

Living large on the company dime

Christopher Carmicle began working for Brown Jordan in 2002 and rose swiftly through the ranks at the parent company of a number of entities engaged in manufacturing and selling furniture for residential and commercial use. By 2005, he took over the company’s national accounts, which soon led to him running a Brown Jordan subsidiary, Brown Jordan Services. Although he was never formally appointed as president of Brown Jordan Services, he was permitted to use the title as a “customer facing accommodation.” read more…

by Danielle E. Baudhuin

Working from home has become an increasingly common practice for many employees in a variety of professional settings. Telecommuting increased from 19% of the U.S. workforce in 2003 to 24% in 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Employees in management, business, financial operations, and professional occupations worked from home in 2015 at a rate of approximately 36%. Further, research from recent years has shown that more Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers than Millennials prefer to work from home. So, with the recent upswing in telecommuting and the anticipated growth of working from home, what are the legal issues that employers should be on the lookout for?

To permit or not to permit telecommuting

Setting asidethe issue of whether telecommuting can ever be a required reasonable accommodation for a disability, permitting employees to telecommute can create significant employment concerns. For example, it’s more difficult to monitor employees who are working from home. As a result, nonexempt employees who telecommute can more easily create overtime obligations for your company. read more…

by Susan Hartmus Hiser

Q I am in a supervisory position at my company. I have a very good relationship with my team, and I often go out to lunch and sometimes out after work with some of the employees I supervise. I recently received a “friend” on Facebook from one of my subordinates. Is it alright for me to accept her as a friend? 

A “Friending” your subordinates on Facebook or any other social networking site is very risky business. While it may seem harmless and sound like a way to develop a good working relationship with fellow employees, it opens you up to a wealth of information that you’d probably rather not have access to. It also blurs the line in the employer-employee relationship, which you must keep firm. read more…

by Kelly Smith-Haley

March Madness is almost over, which means employers everywhere have been dealing with the headaches caused by increased Internet traffic and decreased productivity. However, not even March Madness can cause the heartburn employers experience when they hear the words “electronic discovery” and “forensic imaging.” Read on to see why an Illinois appellate court cried foul after a trial court ordered an employee to hand over his employer’s laptop in a personal injury lawsuit. 

The big dance

Robert Carlson began working as a senior computer analyst for Baxter Healthcare in February 2012. In April 2012, he was injured in a non-work-related accident when his car was rear-ended by a bus operated by James Jerousek, an employee of Olson Transportation. Carlson sued Jerousek and Robert Olson (a company that operated under the name Midwest Motorcoach) for personal injuries. Carlson claimed he suffered disfigurement, loss of normal life, and disabilities, including cognitive difficulties and emotional distress. read more…

by James M. Leva

An employee who was found to have altered his coworker’s e-mails to bolster his discrimination claim failed to show that his employer’s investigation “was so plainly wrong that it could not have been its real reason” for terminating him.

Facts

Forthright, an arbitration program administrator, employed Felix Rodriguez, who is Hispanic, as a case coordinator. Rodriguez also performed certain information technology (IT) functions, which provided him administrative access to Forthright’s computer system. As an administrator, he had access to other employees’ e-mail accounts. read more…