Where should you draw the lines as employers?
A trend exists where employers increasingly allow employees to use their own mobile devices, including laptops, tablets and smart phones, in the workplace to do their jobs. They can use their own devices to access applications and company information, post on social media accounts and send emails or texts related to business. In fact, an acronym has emerged to describe this practice: BYOD (Bring Your Own Device).
Although technology has advanced quickly, federal and state laws are still in the process of catching up with technology’s advances.
What legal issues can exist with BYOD?
According to an article published by the American Bar Association, employee privacy is one the main issues associated with BYOD.
Because employees have personal information along with company information on their mobile devices, the policies put in place by an employer are vital for a company’s legal protection. This fact was established by a case that the Georgia Court of Appeals heard: Sitton v. Print Direction, Inc. In fact, the employer’s policies were pivotal in determining the court’s ruling.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit, a salesperson working for a commercial printing business, used his personal laptop for work, but the also used his laptop to broker some print jobs for his wife’s company, which was also a printer, one of his company’s competitors. Upon hearing about his double use of the computer, the salesman’s CEO went into the employee’s computer and printed emails confirming the fact. The company fired the employee and the employee sued based on the Georgia Computer Systems Protection Act, alleging invasion of privacy.
What legal argument protected the employer in this case?
The company’s Employee Manual contained a policy stating that the employer needed access to company data and information to respond to legal requests for electronically-stored evidence and that employees should not regard electronic email “left on or transmitted over” the employer’s system as private or confidential. Based on this specific company policy, the appellate court ruled in the employer’s favor that no violation of privacy had occurred.
If BYOD is standard operation for your business, consult with an employment law attorney and ensure that your policies are sound and that they can protect your business practices.
Stephen Hans & Associates provides decades of experience to business owners regarding employment related issues.