As a county employee, you have a computer on your desk that you use daily to conduct your work for the county. You must respond to e-mails from constituents and use the Internet to process certain activities as part of your daily job responsibilities. You also use your computer for a little personal business now and then. Can you expect that these personal transmissions are private?

It depends to some degree where you are. And what you are saying or sending.

In Marin County, Calif. no county equipment may be used to display, transmit, or in any other way to facilitate exposure or knowledge of potentially offensive material.

The county’s regulations acknowledge that employees may use equipment for personal purposes but are required to secure their supervisor’s permission before doing so.

The policy goes on to say that no employee using county property or equipment can expect exclusive privacy. This policy applies to e-mail accounts, electronic files, hard copy files and a file of Internet sites visited.

Today’s technology allows every county employer to monitor every activity conducted by its employees, but how far can they go?

The Privacy Clearinghouse recently published a fact sheet on workplace privacy. This fact sheet raises some of the most common questions asked about employees’ expectations of privacy for workplace communications.

The fact sheet points out that while employers want to know if their employees are doing a good job, employees don’t want their every move monitored. Therein lies the conflict.

Employers, through the use of modern technology, can monitor just about everything that an employee does from telephone calls, computer terminals, e-mail and voice mail and where they have been on the Internet. Whether the employer does this or not is largely based on what the county policy on privacy says.

Can my employer listen in on my phone calls at work?
Yes, and in most cases this monitoring is for quality control or to measure the level of customer service being provided. In some states, such as California, the law requires that if the call is between parties who are in California a beep or a recorded message must play to inform the participants they are being monitored. Federal law, which governs most out-of-state calls, does allow unannounced monitoring if it is a business-related call.

The exception is for personal calls. Under federal case law, when an employer realizes that the call being monitored is personal, the monitoring must stop. If, however, employees have been cautioned not to make personal calls from certain business phones, they accept the risk their calls may be monitored.

The clearinghouse suggests using a personal cellular phone, a pay phone or an employer-designated phone for personal calls to ensure your privacy.

Can my employer look at what is on my terminal while I am working?

Employers can use computer software that allows them to see what is on the screen or stored. They can also monitor Internet usage. Since county employers usually own the computers, they are free to monitor how they are being used.

Some protection from monitoring can be found in certain union contracts, which often limit the employer’s monitoring. Public employees may also have some privacy rights under the United States Constitution through the Fourth Amendment, which safeguards against unreasonable search and seizure.

Can I tell when my terminal is being monitored?
Generally no, but some employers will notify employees that monitoring is taking place.

Is my e-mail private?
Generally, no, because the employer owns it and can review its contents.

What about my voice mail?
The same is true. Several recent court cases upheld the employer’s right to monitor voice mail.

I have deleted all of my personal messages from my computer, am I OK now?
Probably not, even after messages have been deleted, they are often permanently saved on magnetic tape.

I am using the feature in my e-mail that marks them as “private,” so I am OK, right?
Probably not, because there is no guarantee your messages are kept confidential, unless the county electronic mail policy says these messages will be kept private.

My employer has made promises about keeping certain things private, so I can hold them to it, right?
No. However, if the employer has a formal policy communicated through employee handbooks, memos or contracts and it is a formal policy concerning employee privacy, the employer generally must honor that policy, unless it is in a case of wrongdoing.

Counties across the country are facing this sticky issue of meeting their needs and respecting the privacy of their employees.

Washington County, Ark. adopted a computer usage, electronic mail and Internet security policy that states:

“Washington County is committed to protecting the rights of its employees, including their reasonable expectation of privacy. However, Washington County also is responsible for servicing and protecting its electronic communications networks. To accomplish this, it is occasionally necessary to intercept or disclose, or assist in intercepting or disclosing, electronic communications. Washington County cannot guarantee that electronic communications will be private.”

This policy goes on to say that for statistical purposes, the county will routinely log Web sites visited by employees, the time spent on these Web sites and the traffic levels. Its stated purpose is to determine expansion needs in order to maintain optimal system conditions.

Other counties, including Alamance County, N.C. and Polk County, Wis., have adopted policies and notified their employees in writing, sometimes requiring a signature of acknowledgement, that there is no expectation of privacy.

What is the policy in your county? More and more cases are being brought about employees’ privacy rights. The American Civil Liberties Union recently produced a legislative kit on Workplace Rights and Electronic Monitoring that can be found at www.aclu.org/issues/worker/legkit2.html.

For a copy of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse Fact sheet go to www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs7work.htm and as always, please consult your county attorney.

(Research News was written by Jacqueline Byers, director of research.)