Employee Privacy in the Workplace: A Critical Review - Research Paper Example

In order to better understand the actual situation of employee privacy in the workplace and the situations which surround this matter, several key points and factors, in particular, must be thoroughly taken into consideration.1. Recent surveys have found that a majority of employers monitor their employees. They are motivated by concern over litigation as well as the increasing role that electronic evidence plays in such things as lawsuits and government agency investigations.A. Now that the issue of privacy in the workplace has come full force into question, employees are starting to ask questions; such as, whether or not what their employer(s) promised them in the beginning in regards to their expected privacy is legally binding or not1.

In regards to employers' first promises regarding such things as email and other workplace privacy factors, these promises are not necessarily legally binding. "Usually, when an employer states a policy regarding any issue in the workplace, including privacy issues, that policy is legally binding. Policies can be communicated in various ways: through employee handbooks, via memos, and in union contracts." (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, 2006).2. There are currently actually very few laws regarding the regulation of employee monitoring.