The headline comes from John Morgan of the well-known law firm Morgan & Morgan. In an interview, the lawyer described monitoring measures that include cameras, productivity metrics, and keystroke tracking. After saying where he'd put the cameras, he concluded that people don't want to work from home, "they just don't want to work."
It may have been intended partly as a joke, but the message was very real: we are going to monitor our employees intensely. At least a few Morgan & Morgan employees appear to have found it unamusing as he said 23 people at the firm subsequently resigned because of it in the first week alone.
So where is the legal line, and when does workplace monitoring become a privacy violation? Here is what you need to know.
Let’s start with the basics. Generally speaking, it is legal for your employer to monitor your work.
Federal law can affect some forms of workplace monitoring. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) includes rules that may apply when an employer intercepts or accesses electronic communications through company systems.
This can apply whether you are in the office or at home, even if you are using your personal computer. However, your employer generally can't freely access or surveil your entire personal device or unrelated personal accounts.
Your employer may be able to access your activity through certain company systems, such as:
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