NY employers to workers: You are being watched

It’s rare that those who spy on others—whether it’s by camping out in the bushes with a pair of binoculars, or by deploying sophisticated technology to hack a personal device—let the targets of their surveillance know they’re being watched, for obvious reasons. But in New York State, a new law will soon compel employers to do just that, by requiring them to inform employees of certain forms of digital surveillance.

New York will be the third state in the US with such a law when it goes into effect on May 7, joining Delaware and Connecticut, both of which already require employers to disclose how they electronically monitor their employees, according to the National Law Review.

Consent for the monitored. The law applies to any business with employees in New York, regardless of size. As the National Law Review explains:

The law also requires employers to specifically state what employee data is being collected and by what means.

There are some limits to the law’s scope. For example, it doesn’t apply to: processes that are designed to manage the type and volume of email, internet usage, or voicemail; processes not targeted to monitor or intercept the communications of specific individuals; and those performed solely for computer system maintenance and/or protection.

The state attorney general’s office will have the authority to enforce the law, and employers found to be in violation could face fines of up to $3,000.

Does it do enough? As HR Brew reported last month, the remote work boom catalyzed by the pandemic prompted a surge in the monitoring of remote employees. “Employers must be more transparent and proactive about notifying workers when their communications and workplace activities are being monitored, tracked, or collected,” said Wilneida Negrón, director of policy and research at the worker advocacy organization Coworker.org.—SB

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