Checkpoint: Privacy Laws and Policies Debate
XCOM/285 Essentials of Managerial Communication
Cluster 2: Debate that workplace communication privacy laws are unethical (employee point of view).
Communication privacy laws and policies affect anyone that has a job. In reading the posts of my classmates it is apparent that it affects every in one way or another and it seems as though everyone does understand the need for these laws and policies, not everyone understands the importance of them. The article written in the student website summed it up; “Employers have several legitimate reasons to monitor employees’ email use, such as productivity concerns and the employer’s fiduciary responsibility to stockholders to protect company assets.“( Barry A. Friedman & Lisa J. Reed, 2007).
The question remains, are the laws ethical; it depends on how you look at it and the intentions behind the policies, if the policies are there to protect company assets then it is understandable for a company to protect itself, on the other hand if a company is using the policies to control their employees every movement while at work then those policies should be reviewed and revised to address the real core of the problem. The question then should be, “what do communication privacy laws do to the employee morale”, it is a very thin line between the two intentions. Employers need to keep in mind how employees can respond to the lack of trust a company has for its employees. Employees do not work in an environment where that line of monitoring cross the line of being viewed as unfair and offensive. “These policies should apply fairly and consistently to reduce employee hostility and suspicion regarding the policy as well as reduce the potential for employees to feel they are being discriminated against” (Rogers 2000).
References
Rogers, A. (2000). You got mail but your employer does too: Electronic communication and privacy in the21st century workplace. Journal of Technology...