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Is this legal for managers?
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searsmatrix


Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Posts: 477
Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2003 5:03 am    Post subject: Is this legal for managers?  

I have a question that hopefully someone can not only answer for me but maybe provide a link or a number i can call to confirm this. I live in california as some of you may or may not know. We have cameras throughout our stores for the Ap department to watch customers and employees for reasons of theft. However my question is whether or not it is legal for managers to manage from the camera for reasons other then theft? As in if they see a worker on task they can call on the phone since they are monitoring from the camera. Is it legal for them to do that? I dont care if it is against sears policy i just want to know the law on that. Can anyone help me?
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Sadakolaffe


Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Posts: 30
Location: Betwixt the green and blue.
Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2003 12:08 pm    Post subject:  

I looked everywhere for this-- I hate it when you "know" the answer, but cannot find the darn articles! Now you owe me Godiva Chocolates. Just kidding.

I found this site:
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs7-work.htm
That says this:
Quote:
New technologies make it possible for employers to monitor many aspects of their employees' jobs, especially on telephones, computer terminals, through electronic and voice mail, and when employees are using the Internet. Such monitoring is virtually unregulated. Therefore, unless company policy specifically states otherwise (and even this is not assured), your employer may listen, watch and read most of your workplace communications.


I would assume that since you are aware that you are on camera that they can use anything they have on tape, reguardless of your state's RTW status or not. They have used video to "bust" people at my store, and I am as geographically close to Cal. laws as you can get without living there.

I also found this:
Quote:
Courts are generally not receptive to employees' claims that their work environments contain sufficiently private spaces for an intrusion on seclusion to occur. See Marrs v. Marriott Corp., 830 F. Supp. 274, 283 (D. Md. 1992) (holding that where an employee was videotaped picking a lock on a desk drawer, the employee had no reasonable expectation of privacy in an "open office")


From http://www.workrights.org/

Basically, it is an example of technology advancing before the laws can be changed... so there is little leverage an employee has.
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