This is one of the most common issues in companies today, as it’s obviously in conflict, or should I say, in contradiction of employees’ right to privacy. To answer this once and for all, here’s what the Federal and State law says about it:
Federal Law
The Federal Law tends to be lean more in favor of the employer, while the state law is in opposite side. Under the ECPA or the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of the federal law, the company is allowed to monitor its employees’ emails when at least one of the three provisions is met: one of the parties has consent, there is a legit business reason, and/or the company needs to protect itself.
State Law
The state law on the other hand, is not very clear about this issue. It says that if the company doesn’t have an email policy in place, any employer could exercise his right to privacy. But if the company has laid out a well-written email monitoring policy beforehand, and employees are informed about it and warned them about expectations of privacy, the company has the right for privacy claim.
Now, to answer the question, is email monitoring on employees legal? The answer is YES. Obviously, if the company has implemented a well-written policy about it, where employees are warned and understand the company policy, then employees shouldn’t have any expectations for privacy.
As an employer, you need to make things in full black and white and make your employees understand every detail of the policy to protect your company. Not only it will help you in dealing with issues with your employees, but more importantly, it will educate your employees the proper usage and email etiquette to prevent such issues from rising.
In addition, the email monitoring policy should be consistently applied as possible, because singling out any individual without a valid reason can subject the company for discrimination claims.