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In the United States, is one's workplace generally considered to be a place where an employee can assume a relative level of privacy from hidden surveillance?

For example, suppose that I had a private office at work. Can I legally assume a reasonable level of privacy in my "private" office. Or can my employer record, without my knowledge, conversations I have with my wife on my personal cell phone during my lunch break? Can my employer just have a live mic hooked up in my office 24-7 to see if I say anything they do not like?

Legal disclaimer: This is a hypothetical question and I am not under the suspicion of my employer recording my conversations with my wife. I am not seeking personal legal advice for me or my agents.

Jason Aller
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Vladhagen
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2 Answers2

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You are right that this is probably a private space; you are wrong in thinking it is your private space; it isn't. The space belongs to your employer and they can do whatever they want with their space unless there is a law that says they can't.

As to what type of "hidden surveillance" is allowed that depends on your particular circumstances including what state and federal laws apply and the employment contract you are covered by.

As a starting point, if this was happening in Australia then:

  • If you gave permission, all would be legal
  • If you did not give permission:
    • it would be illegal to record anything taking place across a public telecommunications system (i.e. phone tapping)
    • it would be legal for anyone to make an audio recording (not phone tapping) of any conversation to which they were a party
    • it would be legal to make a video recording without sound.
Dale M
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In general, video recording is always allowed everywhere, unless one has a reasonable expectation of privacy. (I don't see how a place of employment would be much different in this regard.)

For example, if you're having a lunch break in a break room, and anyone else could come in at any time, it would not be reasonable to have an expectation of privacy even when noone else is around (say, you popped in during a holiday). To avoid any possible confusion, many employers in the US may explicitly put signs like "area subject to surveillance".

On the other hand, if you have a private office with a locking door and completely dark blinds or no windows, it would appear quite fitting to be able to use it to e.g. change after a gym, without video monitoring taking place in such private moments; it would appear to be improper for an employer to covertly record such areas without a clear and visible signs of such policy.

Audio is different and varies between state lines; very often the recording could only be made by persons that are a party to the conversation, unless everyone's permission to the recording has been obtained.

cnst
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