Emails are a crucial form of communication for millions of employees across California and the United States. Technology makes it much easier for teams to coordinate on projects. But it also raises a number of privacy concerns in the workplace. In particular, employees should understand when their employers are legally able to monitor their email correspondence.
General Rules Related to Email Monitoring in the Workplace
California has fairly strong privacy protections, both for consumers and employees. Consider, for example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). But these protections are not absolute. In most cases, employers are legally able to monitor the email correspondence of their employees. The following sections will help employees identify the circumstances under which email monitoring is admissible and generally prohibited.
When Email Monitoring Is Allowed In The Workplace
As a general principle, employees have “no expectation of privacy” on devices that are owned by their employer. This also applies to email accounts and messaging services that are company-managed. Consider the following situations where monitoring would typically be allowed.
- Company Devices: As explained previously, email monitoring can typically occur on phones, computers, and other devices directly owned by your employer.
- Business Purposes: Employers are typically allowed to engage in monitoring in order to ensure that key business functions are being performed. This may include preventing harassment, protecting company information, and ensuring productivity.
- Employee Notice: An employer’s legal right to monitor emails is typically strengthened when they give prior notice that this is their policy.
- When Monitoring Does Not Violate Laws: As long as email monitoring complies with California’s right to privacy laws and does not unfairly target or discriminate against employees, it will generally be admissible.
Employees should expect that virtually all of their communications that are performed in an official capacity at their jobs could be monitored. But far too many times, this does not take place. Employees may email private information with the expectation that their employers can’t see what they are writing.
When Email Monitoring Is Not Allowed In The Workplace
There are also a number of situations where email monitoring typically will not be allowed in the workplace. If employees wish to maintain their right to privacy, they should familiarize themselves with these situations.
- Reasonable Expectation of Privacy: Email monitoring would typically not be allowed if an employer’s policies suggest that employees may use business email accounts for personal purposes.
- Privileged Information: Email monitoring would typically not be allowed when emails contain information that could be considered privileged or confidential. This may include communications with union leaders, medical facilities, or attorneys.
- Discrimination: Email monitoring would typically not be allowed if it is being performed for discriminatory reasons. This could include singling out employees for protected characteristics, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability status, and more.
- Personal Devices and Accounts: Email monitoring will typically not be allowed when an employee is using personal devices and personal accounts. Monitoring in this situation would run afoul of numerous privacy laws.
It can be hard to separate your work life and personal life at times. But there are many different situations where employees will need some level of privacy, even during business hours. In order to achieve some level of privacy during the workday, it is always best to email sensitive or personal information on personal devices and through personal messaging services.
Getting Legal Help for Workplace Privacy Violations
There are substantial risks associated with using work emails for personal purposes. Employees should always assume that everything they write in work emails or on work devices could potentially be monitored. Even a private email account accessed on a company-owned work device could potentially be subjected to monitoring.
A company’s right to monitor the email communications of their employees is not absolute. In far too many situations, employers violate the privacy rights of their workers for illegal purposes. Employees should understand that they do have legal recourse in these situations. If you’ve been the subject of illegal email monitoring in the workplace, the attorneys at The Labor Champ are here to help you. You can contact us anytime for a risk-free consultation at 949-727-9300.
