One objection some employees have against their employer’s computer policies: It’s an invasion of privacy. But do workers really have a right to privacy when they’re on company computers?

One recent court case addressed that question.

An employee who’d worked in the company’s accounts payable department for five years started stealing from his employer.

He transferred money out of the company’s bank accounts into his own. Also, he hacked into the payroll system and gave himself a big pay raise — changing his yearly salary from $40,000 to $125,000.

The company’s owner quickly found out about the salary increase and the missing money. He confronted the employee, who admitted to stealing $8,000 and offered to cut the company a check for that amount. The owner fired him and called the police.

With the company’s consent, the police searched the man’s office and his work computer. It turned out the total amount he’d taken was more than $600,000.

Was the search legit?

After he was arrested, the employee tried to have the case against him thrown out. Why? He claimed the police had no right to search the computer. The inspection violated his right to privacy, he said, because the computer was located in his office and password-protected so he was the only one who could use it.

The judge didn’t buy the argument. As several other courts have ruled in similar cases, the employee had no “reasonable expectation of privacy” — so his rights weren’t violated, the court said.

The fact that the computer was inside an office — and password-protected so only one employee could use it — didn’t change the fact that it was the company’s computer. And, in general, companies have a right to search their own property.

Have a good policy

One way for companies to avoid problems related to computer searches and monitoring: Have all employees sign your policy and acknowledge that the company has the right to monitor how its computers are used.

Two states (Delaware and Connecticut) require companies to get consent before they do any monitoring. But for all employers, it can be a good way to remind employees not to expect any privacy when they’re using the company’s equipment.

Cite: State v. M.A.

As if you need more headaches, new technology’s making it even harder to guard against lawsuits. Here’s one company that’s getting dragged into court because of an employee’s private, at-home online activity.

An employee at software firm Cisco wrote an anonymous blog, which he used to criticize patent lawyers. He stepped over the line when he wrote particularly disparaging comments about two attorneys involved in a suit against Cisco.

They found out the author’s identity, and they’re suing him for defamation. They’re also suing Cisco, despite the fact that the blog was personal, written from the employee’s home and never mentioned any affiliation with the company.

Why’s the employer being blamed? Allegedly, the employee’s supervisor knew what he was writing, and never told him to stop.

Blogging policies: What you can do …

This case shows the increasing need for employers to write policies regarding Web use — even activities that occur outside the workplace. A helpful strategy might be to remind employees they can never be truly anonymous when they write online. Other keys to an effective policy:

• No blogging at work. You can’t control everything employees do, but you can tell them how they’re allowed to use the company’s time and property.
• Harassment rules apply to online communication. If someone would be punished for saying something in person, they can be punished for saying it online, too.
• No leaking confidential information or trade secrets.
• People should not identify themselves as agents of the company or imply that they represent the company’s views. (Cisco wrote a new policy requiring employees who blog to include a disclaimer that their opinions aren’t indicative of the company’s.)

… and what you can’t

There are limits to what employers can restrict. For example, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) gives employees the right to discuss pay and working conditions — and that protection applies to blogs, too.

In one case, an employee was fired after writing a blog that criticized company management and union leadership. He sued, claiming his writing was protected under the NLRA. The court agreed and the company lost the case (Cite: Konop v. Hawaiian Airlines, Inc.).

Also, check your states’ laws. Some prohibit disciplining employees over political speech, or for legal, private activities.