The New Battle Over Workplace Privacy: Safe Practices to Minimize Conflict, Confusion, and Litigation [Hardcover]

William S. Hubbartt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 26, 1998

Workplace privacy issues are complex -- many employers are confused about their ethical and legal rights. This book provides critical information to help companies create appropriate policies and practices.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A practical guide to legal and ethical issues affecting privacy in the workplace. The author uses case law to examine the gamut of workplace issuesApolygraph, drug testing, reference checks, E-mail intercept, surveillance, harassment, and interviews.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

WILLIAM S. HUBBARTT (St. Charles, IL) is founder and president of Hubbartt & Associates, a human resources management consulting firm. He has written more than 75 articles and four books on various human resources-related topics.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 284 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM; 1 edition (January 26, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814403573
• ISBN-13: 978-0814403570
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,958,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Be prepared!, February 15, 2006

By 

Louise McCauley (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The New Battle Over Workplace Privacy: Safe Practices to Minimize Conflict, Confusion, and Litigation (Hardcover)

Employers and managers today face an increasing number of threats to the organization. Theft of business assets costs U.S. companies an estimated $40 billion a year. More than one million employees a year are victims of workplace violence. Employees who download games from the internet increase the risk of introducing viruses to company computer systems and expose their employers to charges of software piracy. However, measures that employer's have taken to address these issues, like workplace surveillance and performance monitoring, have sparked a violent debate, and several lawsuits claiming invasion of privacy, sexual harassment and discrimination. Your best defense, says William S. Hubbartt, is to be prepared. He presents guidelines for helping you to avoid battles over workplace privacy and examines some of the laws that protect employees' rights.

· Develop policies that will stand up in court. The best way to avoid lawsuits is to clearly spell out the policies that the company will use to handle privacy issues like testing, conduct and performance monitoring. Before you draft your policies, make sure you are aware of federal and state laws that apply.
· When screening job applicants, relate all questions and checks to the job.
· Protect computerized records containing information about employees.
· Develop tests that fairly evaluate employee's work attributes.
· If you use drug testing, notify applicants and employees that they will be tested. Utilize procedures that allow them as much privacy and dignity as possible.
· Have a clear business justification for formal dress codes, such as public image, security or safety. Apply dress codes equally to men and women. Communicate the purpose of the dress code to employees.
· Banning solicitation at the workplace must apply to everyone, from girl scout cookies to distributing religious literature.
· Respect your employees lifestyle choices.
· Investigate if the problem is serious.
· Use monitoring to check routine issues.