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From: linc@tongue1.berkeley.edu (Linc Madison)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Is Employer Monitoring of Operators Legal?
Message-ID: <16159@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 17 Jan 91 11:12:04 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 46, Message 4 of 13


Mike Miller asks about the legality of monitoring conversations
between operators and customers at his companies.  First, I definitely
second the suggestion that you consult a lawyer familiar with such
issues in your state before starting such a system.

In addition to the questions of giving notice/getting permission from
the employees involved, there is also the question of whether you need
to provide some notice to your customers.  The telco listings have a
little symbol in the phone book that translates to "calls to this
number may be monitored (but not recorded) by supervisory personnel."
When I worked at Xerox ("Good morning, Xerox service, may I have your
machine serial number please?") the supervisor could monitor, but only
by plug-in at my station.


Linc Madison  =  linc@tongue1.berkeley.edu


[Moderator's Note: Question -- when the supervisor *did* plug in at
your station, did s/he have to ask your permission before doing so?
Did s/he have to then notify the person you were speaking with that
s/he was on the line listening?  I thought not ... so why do some
people seem to think if the supervisor chooses to listen from a
distant location -- monitoring just the employees whose duty it is to
answer the phones and serve the calling public -- that some invasion
of privacy has occurred?  The supervisor need not ever ask your
permission -- or for that matter bother to notify you -- prior to
reviewing your work, which may at times include listening to you speak
with customers.  Therefore, to listen *only* on the operator's talking
path is not illegal, since it is not illegal to supervise the actions
of your employees. Merely because their duties are concentrated on the
phone does not make them something special. And the caller has no
right to a *private* conversation with an employee whose duty is
merely to switch phone calls. The caller is talking to the switch at
that point -- not engaging in an actual, possibly confidential
communication. But common courtesy -- and maybe the law -- dictate
that you at least notify your employees you might be listening in.   PAT]