Privacy

Manager divulged private health info: Now what?

09/12/2012

Q. We approved an employee to take FMLA leave to care for her seriously ill father. The problem is that her supervisor has shared the details of the dad’s illness with other employees. This is a breach of confidentiality. The employee has complained. What should happen to the supervisor?

A friend indeed: Do Facebook users have privacy rights?

08/23/2012

At last count, the more than 900 million Facebook users have more than 125 billion “friends.” But in the workplace, who is really your friend on Facebook? In this recent case, a manager strong-armed an employee to get access to a co-worker’s Facebook page. Is that an invasion of privacy?

Illinois ‘Facebook Law’ bans seeking employee passwords

08/21/2012

Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation barring employers from requesting job applicants’ or employees’ social media passwords. Dubbed the “Facebook Law,” the new law is intended to protect employees’ private communications from the prying eyes of prospective or current bosses.

7 ways to limit your social media liability

06/14/2012

Online social networking sites provide a variety of benefits to organizations. They can help you collect industry-based knowledge, reach new customers, build your brand and publicize your company’s name and reputation. But those benefits come with their fair share of legal risks. You need a comprehensive social media policy to guide employees on your expectations about their online behavior.

Federal law doesn’t cover misuse of trade secrets

06/12/2012

The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) doesn’t grant employers any legal recourse if an employee misuses information obtained from company computers, according to a recent federal court ruling.

Ensure email policy spells out access rules

05/18/2012

When it comes to securing employees’ email accounts against internal hacking, leave nothing to chance. Make it clear that you forbid employees from illegitimately accessing co-workers’ email—and that it’s grounds for dismissal.

Federal computer law doesn’t cover misuse of trade secrets

04/12/2012

Hacked! How to limit liability for employee data breaches

03/29/2012

Imagine this nightmare scenario: You’ve contracted with a vendor to enter personnel data into a new computer system, including employees’ Social Security numbers, addresses, names of dependents, health records and bank account routing numbers. Then the vendor notifies you that employee data was somehow stolen or lost. What do you do?

Government employees have limited privacy rights

03/19/2012

Public employees don’t lose all privacy rights just because they work for the government. But that privacy is subject to limitations.

Politics around the watercooler: Can you discipline ‘overly political’ workers?

12/26/2011

While today’s Iowa caucuses feel like the end of a long campaign season, it’s really just the beginning of a heated political year … one that could spill over into your workplace. Follow these tips for handling political activity in your workplace and employees’ political advocacy outside of work.