Employers that monitor their employees’ electronic activities should note that New York State will soon require employers to (i) provide written or electronic notice to employees upon hiring of such monitoring in the workplace, and (ii) post notice of such monitoring. Any such notice must be posted conspicuously. Although many employers already provide notice of monitoring as part of their cybersecurity and privacy programs and/or through their handbooks or other stand-alone policies, and some employers also provide such notice to their employees to limit assertions and claims that the employees have any expectation of privacy in using the employer’s email and other electronic systems, New York State is raising the specter of enforcement activity and civil penalties if an employer’s notice does not describe the monitoring used in the employer’s systems appropriately and conspicuously.
On November 8, 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law an act that amends the Civil Rights Law and requires employers in New York State to provide notice to an employee upon hire where the employer “monitors or otherwise intercepts” telephone calls, emails, or internet usage or access using “any electronic device or system” (the “Act”).[1] The notice must be in writing or sent electronically, and the employee must acknowledge receipt in writing or electronically. In addition, the employer must post the notice “in a conspicuous place.”[2] The Act...
Jordan Nyesom-Wike, son of Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has accused Safwan Garba, a businessman and his lawyer of making false claims in a petition to the Economic...