In Ca is it legal for an employer to secretly record employees conversations?

In an office with less than 50 employees that is privately owned, and in CA, is it legal for the owner/employer to secretly record conversations between employees without the employees being aware? Employees have never signed any kind of agreement to this.

2 answers | asked Jul 9, 2010 12:00 AM [EST] | applies to California

Answers (2)

While I agree with George Allen, I want to add that employees should be careful with where they can "reasonably" expect privacy. Employer have strong arguments that there is no expectation of privacy on their computers and workspaces because these are owned by the employers and they have a right to monitor the work. The courts are still hashing it out. Recently, the US Supreme Court strongly implied that employees of a police department had no privacy rights in department supplied pagers. So when it comes to email and internet use, employees should watch it. On the other hand, recording conversations in the bathroom and break areas are likely illegal for employers. Good luck, Matt Kaufman

posted by Matthew Kaufman | Jul 10, 2010 12:48 PM [EST]

No, it is not legal, so long as the people conversing had a reasonable expectation of privacy (e.g., not conversing in a place where others could overhear).

posted by George Allen | Jul 9, 2010 09:33 AM [EST]

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