this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2024
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Privacy

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (5 children)

So um...

The question is, are employers allowed to monitor you while you work?

I mean, cashiers are gonna have cameras pointed at them.

Bank workers...

Casinos...

Law enforcement (body cams are pointed away, but still one can argue its privacy intrusion)

I mean, you are getting paid so is it unreasonable for an employer to monitor you?

Like some jobs already has the norm of cameras monitoring your work. So do we all get rid of camera? Or should some jobs get monitored while other don't?

Curious πŸ€”

I mean, nobody like being watched, but like if you think about it, a store owner has to make sure their cashiers don't steal.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 month ago

Counterpoint: all of those jobs have workers who know they are being filmed. This was done without this woman's consent, secretly.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Laws can vary but generally video recording is allowed in US states except in private areas like bathrooms and changing rooms. Audio recording laws vary by state laws (single party consent). In most offices it is normal to have cameras watching doors and common areas but not individual workers.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago

but not individual workers.

And this is where it crossed the line here. Targeting individuals... Is not going to work out for you in court.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

IDK, this case seems really complicated. First, it's a state agency, not a private employer. And there is a difference between a camera in a public space and a camera pointed directly at an individual in a private office. The entire point of having an office in the first place is that it provides some level of privacy. If an employer doesn't want to give their employees any privacy, they can have them work in an open-plan office. At least in that case, the employees will naturally feel exposed in a public space and will act accordingly. But a private office? That naturally encourages people to perform behaviors they wouldn't perform in public. You might not take a phone call from your doctor in an open plan office, but it wouldn't be unusual to take one in a private office.

I get that plenty of other employers have cameras. But there are some very key differences between cashiers and someone working in a government office. The cashier works for a private employer, and thus constitutional protections aren't applicable. And cashiers are literally standing in a big room interacting with the public; it's obvious that privacy is not implied. But if you, as an employer, put someone in a space that implies they'll have privacy, but then secretly record them? Yeah, that could fall afoul of some privacy laws.

I don't really know if they have a case or not. But the fact that an employment attorney was likely willing to take the case on contingency suggests that the case is, at the very least, not frivolous.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Upper managers allegedly justified the camera’s installation as a security measure to monitor individuals attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in the office, according to the suit, which also claims that video recording of AA members at a meeting is illegal.

Is this about theft tho?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

Oh yea, I'm not specifically referring to this story. But like in a general sense of "Is surveillance at work ever okay? If so, when is it okay and when is it not okay?"

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

They do by counting the money at different points in the day like shift changes and close...

I had this happen once when I worked at a shitty movie theater I misplaced 20 bucks and for the next two weeks they followed me around doing random tasks... At the time I thought they were really stupid and I mean it was... But now a long time later I know they wanted me to quit but wouldn't fire me...

I showed them I didn't have the money but whatever they do check is all in saying