Some Courts Raise the Bar on Reading Employee E-mails

Employees may have more privacy rights than they expect with regards to corporate e-mail servers, according to legal experts. Some state courts are showing more consideration when it comes to employers reading employee e-mails electronically and violating their privacy. The force behind the change in how some state courts view these violations is due to increasing capabilities of accessing someone's personal and financial information. Some state courts take into account whether or not employers have clearly explained how e-mails are monitored to their employees. A recent survey of 220 large U.S. firms conducted by Proofpoint Inc., a provider of e-mail security and data loss prevention services, reported that 52% of employees access their personal e-mail accounts on their work computer, 20% said their organization has a policy that explains how it protects employee information, and 38% of companies said they employ staff to read or analyze the content or outgoing e-mail.

WallStreet Journal. com - Nov. 24, 2009

Temporary Workers in 21st Century Economy

A recent surge in temporary workers is good news for the economy, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal. Firms have started to hire top-level personnel on a temporary basis to help boost innovation, and during uncertain times, firms feel more secure hiring contingent workers due to the flexibility. Hiring temporary workers boosts economic efficiency, because not all executive roles require permanent staff. Experts maintain that hiring temporary employees on a project basis gets the job done faster and is more cost effective. It also allows companies to rethink how work is organized, allowing them to work closest to the dollar. WallStreetJournal.com - December 1, 2009

Unemployment Stats for November

The unemployment rate decreased to 10% in November, down from 10.2 % in October. The number of people who are unemployed decreased by 325,000 to 15.4 million in November. At the beginning of the recession in December 2007, the jobless rate stood at 4.9%, and the number of employed persons was 7.5 million. Job declines were seen in manufacturing, construction, and information, while temporary help services and health services saw an increase in jobs.

Among the major worker groups, unemployment rates for adult men (10.5 percent), adult women (7.9 percent), teenagers (26.7 percent), whites (9.3 percent), blacks (15.6 percent), and Hispanics (12.7percent) showed little change in November. The unemployment rate for Asians was 7.3 percent, not seasonally adjusted.

Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs fell by463,000 in November. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) rose by 293,000 to 5.9 million. The percentage of unemployed persons jobless for 27 weeks or more increased by 2.7 percentage points to 38.3 percent.

OSHA and Workplace Safety

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Employees have the right to a workplace that is reasonably free of safety and health hazards. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the federal agency that seeks to assure the safety and health of America's workers by setting and enforcing workplace safety standards.

Employee Rights Under OSHA

The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970 created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) within the Department of Labor, in order to reduce workplace hazards and implement safety and health programs. OSHA gives employees many rights and responsibilities, including the right to:

• Review copies of appropriate standards, rules, regulations, and requirements that the employer should have available at the workplace.

• Have access to relevant employee exposure and medical records.

• Request the OSHA area director to conduct an inspection if they believe hazardous conditions or violations of standards exist in the workplace, and have an authorized employee representative accompany the OSHA compliance officer during the inspection tour.

• Have their names withheld from their employer, upon request to OSHA, if they sign and file a written complaint.

• Be free of any discriminatory or retaliatory action taken by their employer as a result of any OSHA complaint.

Employer Obligations Under OSHA

Among the obligations imposed under OSHA, employers have a duty to:

• Provide work and a workplace free from recognized hazards.

• Inform employees of OSHA safety and health standards that apply to their workplace.

• Display in a prominent place the official OSHA poster that describes rights and responsibilities under the OSH Act.

• Establish a written, comprehensive hazard communication program that includes provisions for such things as container labeling, material safety data sheets, and an employee training program.

• Inform employees of the existence, location, and availability of their medical and exposure records when employees first begin employment and at least annually thereafter, and to provide these records upon request.

OSHA Inspections

If a hazard is not being corrected, an employee can contact an OSHA area office or state office via a written complaint. If the OSHA or state office determines that there are reasonable grounds for believing that a violation or danger exists, the office will conduct an inspection. A workers' representative has a right to accompany an OSHA compliance officer during the inspection. The representative must be chosen by the union (if there is one) or by the employees. Under no circumstances may the employer choose the workers' representative. The inspector may conduct a comprehensive inspection of the entire workplace or a partial inspection limited to certain areas or aspects of the operation.

At the end of the inspection, the OSHA inspector will meet with the employer and the employee representatives to discuss the abatement of any hazards that may have been found.