Employers may use various electronic monitoring tools to maintain workplace safety and ensure employees stay focused on work. However, state and federal employment laws also impose certain rules on businesses for employee privacy and monitoring, and it’s important that Florida businesses understand these laws to avoid unexpected liability for violating employees’ rights.
Florida Laws That Affect Employee Privacy
In Florida, employees generally have no reasonable expectation of privacy in the workplace or while using employer-supplied electronic devices or internet accounts, except in limited circumstances. Employers may install surveillance cameras in the workplace and monitor employees’ phone calls or text messages on employer-provided phones and emails on work accounts.
However, employers’ monitoring efforts may not intentionally intrude upon an employee’s private affairs. Thus, employers may not conduct video surveillance in areas where workers would normally expect privacy, such as bathrooms or locker rooms. Employers also may not monitor workers’ private phone calls. Moreover, as a two-party consent state, Florida law requires employers to obtain consent from both parties engaged in a private conversation, though employees might not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in conversations held to further the employer’s business.
Federal Rules Employers Must Follow
Various federal laws impose privacy protections for employees and monitoring rules for employers that wish to keep tabs on employees during work. For example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act require employers to keep employee medical information confidential, whether they obtain it from employees themselves or through group health insurance plans.
Monitoring Workplace Computers and Internet Use
Employers typically have broad discretion to monitor employees’ activity on workplace or employer-supplied computers and employees’ internet use while on work computers or connected to the employer’s internet service. Employees generally do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the websites they visit on an employer-supplied computer or internet-connected device or in the emails they send through a work email account using the employer’s servers.
Video Surveillance in the Workplace
Employers may set up video surveillance in the workplace, except in areas where a person would normally expect privacy, such as:
- Bathrooms
- Locker rooms where employees change or shower
- Nursing rooms for employees expecting children or who have recently had children
Audio Recording and Eavesdropping Restrictions
Employers that wish to install surveillance cameras that also record audio, or otherwise record employee conversations, must remain mindful that Florida has a two-party consent rule, which generally requires permission from all parties to a conversation to record it.
Best Practices for Regulatory Compliance
Employers can adhere to the following best practices to ensure compliance with privacy and monitoring rules:
- Inform employees of the company’s monitoring policies, including policies on workplace surveillance cameras and monitoring of internet activity on work computers, activity on work emails, and calls or text messages on work phones.
- Avoid intentionally monitoring employees in circumstances where a person would reasonably expect privacy, such as bathrooms, locker rooms, or personal phone calls.
- Remember Florida’s two-party consent rule for audio recording of conversations.
Furthermore, employers should obtain an employee’s consent before searching their personal belongings or areas of the workplace that an employee typically has exclusive access to, such as an individual desk or a locker.
Contact a Tampa Business Law Firm Today
The law gives employers significant leeway to monitor employees’ workplace activity and use of employer-supplied electronic devices and accounts. However, common-law privacy protections do limit employers’ ability to monitor employees. Before you implement any privacy monitoring policies, consider discussing your plans with an experienced employment law attorney in Tampa.
Contact Brick Business Law, P.A. today for an initial consultation, and we’ll explain your rights and obligations under both state and federal law.
