Читать книгу Employment Law Update - Jonathan Ingber - Страница 40

If an employer chooses to monitor the internet use, email, text messages, instant messages, or tweets sent or received by employees using company-owned computers and devices, such monitoring should be performed only after the employee is expressly told that monitoring will occur. Best practices followed by most companies call for each new employee to sign an agreement or policy acknowledgment (APA) at the time the employee starts work.

The APA states that the employee acknowledges that the employer will monitor internet use, as well as email, texts, instant messages, and tweets sent or received by the employee (after the fact). The APA also advises the employee of the consequences of a violation of the agreement or policy. Getting a signed APA is key because this document “removes the expectation of privacy” that the employee may otherwise have in his or her internet activities and electronic communications. In turn, removal of that expectation will position the employer to prevail in any later litigation over unauthorized internet use or electronic communications that violate company policies.