Privacy

Guard HR records, the No. 1 source of identity theft

03/01/2003

In the past, thieves stole a person’s identity mostly by snatching a wallet, intercepting mail or digging through garbage to find identifying data. Not anymore. Now, …

Stop relying on Social Security number as employee ID

09/01/2002

Identity theft is among the nation’s fastest-growing crimes, and your personnel files and other HR data can be gold mines for would-be thieves. Getting a Social Security number (SSN), in particular, …

Employees have zero privacy claim on e-mail

08/01/2002

Two insurance workers sued, claiming privacy rights, after they were fired for forwarding sexually explicit e-mails. The company had a clear policy that banned defamatory, abusive, obscene or threatening messages. The …

Tread Carefully With Drug Test, Psychiatric Help

08/01/2002

Q. Can we suggest psychiatric help for an employee who we suspect may be having trouble with substance abuse? And can we require a random drug test? —H.J., Texas

Employ workers outside America? Two rulings boost your legal risks

07/01/2002

1. EU harassment rule. Employers in Europe will need to do a better job of preventing sexual harassment. Reason: A newly approved European Union (EU) directive, which takes effect in 2005, …

Mean-spirited office pranks carry heavy price

06/01/2002

When a manager at an auto body shop went to the restroom, two fellow employees picked the lock, entered and took a photograph of him while urinating. They distributed the picture …

Employees have no privacy claim to company-supplied home PC

05/01/2002

For 12 years, a senior insurance executive used two company- provided computers, one at the office and one at his home. He had signed his company’s computer policy, agreeing to use …

Quality checks of phone calls don’t give you license to eavesdrop

04/01/2002

An administrative sales assistant at an insurance agency quit after learning that her personal phone calls were being monitored and recorded by her company through a hidden tape recorder. …

HIPAA health care privacy rules: They do apply to you

04/01/2002

It’s a common misconception: Employers have been lulled into thinking that the strict privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) apply only to health care providers …

Personnel files: What to keep, and where

02/01/2002

Q. What should we keep in personnel files? —G.T., Missouri