IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Feature Story: Monitoring Personal E-mail Accounts On Company Computers

2. Cathie's Corner: Accommodating Employees' Religious Holidays

3. Reminder: HIPAA Privacy Notice Deadline Nears

4. Free Report: COBRA Compliance Complications Multiplied By The Economic Stimulus Law (ARRA) 

5. HR Soapbox: The Confusion Over Casual Clothing

AHI's We Couldn't Make This Up 

When a patient was admitted to a Wisconsin emergency room with a sex device lodged in his rectum, two nurses used their cell phones to snap photos of his X-ray. An anonymous phone call from another worker alerted the hospital to the nurses' actions and alleged that one of them posted the picture on her Facebook page. According to police, it's unclear as to whether the photo was ever posted on the Facebook page, which the nurse had since removed from the Internet, but there was no question that she blogged about the incident on her page. Not suprisingly, the hospital terminated both nurses.

Form I-9 Reminder 

As of April 3, employers are required to use the new Form I-9 for all new hires and reverifications. The new form has a revision date of 02/02/09. The revision date can be found on the lower right hand corner of the form. No previous editions of the form will now be accepted. Click here to access the new form.

1. FEATURE STORY:
MONITORING PERSONAL E-MAIL ACCOUNTS ON COMPANY COMPUTERS

In this economy, it's imperative that employees are at the top of their productivity game. The company's survival depends on it. One of the most insidious drains on employee productivity is access to the Internet. More specifically, access to personal, web-based e-mail accounts. The fact that an employee accesses such an e-mail account using their work computer trumps the fact that the e-mail account is personal in nature, and thus, makes those e-mails fair game for their employer's monitoring eyes. Or does it? Find out how far you can go when it comes to monitoring employees' use of such accounts.

Generally speaking, messages sent on public e-mail systems are afforded greater privacy protections than those that are sent on completely "internal" company e-mail systems. That doesn't mean you may not have a company policy that reserves the right to monitor personal e-mail accounts accessed via company equipment. It means that you must drive home the point that employees should have absolutely no expectation of privacy when it comes to private e-mail accounts accessed at work.

That's exactly what one company did. Its electronic communications policy warned employees that there was no reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to any communication made on company-issued laptop computers and server, regardless of whether the e-mail was sent from a work account or a personal web-based account.

In light of the policy, the New Jersey Superior Court ruled that attorney-client privilege did not apply to an employee's correspondence with her attorney through a personal, web-based e-mail account she accessed from a company laptop. The court reasoned that the employee must have been well aware of the policy since it appeared in a handbook that she helped to create, draft, and distribute. Upshot: The court permitted the employer to use the correspondences in its defense against her discrimination claim. (Stengart v. Loving Care Agency, Inc., NJ Super. Ct., No. BER-L-858-08, 2009).

Follow in this company's cyber-steps and include a similar clause in your organization's electronic communications policy. Then make sure to fully communicate the policy to employees. Explicitly warn them that the company reserves the right to monitor: 1) personal e-mail accounts accessed using the company's equipment, and 2) any e-mails transmitted through personal, web-based accounts that are stored on their hard drives as temporary files.

Just because it's generally acceptable for an employer to monitor employees' personal e-mail activity where a clear policy exists and company equipment is involved, doesn't mean your managers should make it a regular practice.

Require managers to get approval from a higher-up or HR before monitoring an employee's private e-mail account. Don't allow unfettered access.

Identify a manager's motivations for wanting to monitor a particular employee's personal e-mail account before granting approval. Monitoring done in the ordinary course of business or as part of a workplace investigation is advisable. Monitoring out of curiosity or to build a case against an employee who rubs them the wrong way is not.

Remind managers to stop reading e-mail once they've determined that the subject matter is personal.

For more advice on managing the electronic ways of your employees, join AHI on April 14 for a live web conference, MySpace = My Business? Not Likely! Creating & Enforcing Policies Relating To E-mail, Blogging, Cell Phones & Other Electronic Communication. 

 MySpace? My Business? Not Likely!
Creating & Enforcing Policies Relating To E-mail, Blogging,
Cell Phones & Other Electronic Communication 

Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Live Web Conference
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Eastern
Eric Rumbaugh, Esq.

Register Today! 
 

With the rapid change in the electronic community, your organization must be sure its policies keep up with the times. Otherwise, you could end up risking the loss of confidential data or a tarnished public image. 

• You can't afford to miss this web conference, during which you will learn:
• The seven dangerous risks of NOT monitoring employees' postings on social networking sites
• What you can and can't legally do when it comes to disciplining an employee for blogging
• The seven essential provisions of an effective social networking/blogging policy
• How to protect your organization from the potential dangers of Twitter
• How the Internet is making it harder for employers to control union solicitation and what you can do about it
• How to stay on the legal side of state and federal laws when monitoring cell phone use

Register today for only $199 per connection. If you prefer to register by phone, please call AHI's customer service center at 800-879-2441 and mention conference code: G14277.

2. CATHIE'S CORNER:
 ACCOMMODATING EMPLOYEES' RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS

It's the time of the year that leaves many HR managers bumfuzzled — how to manage coverage when the holy days of two major religions fall at the same time.... Continue the story.

3. REMINDER: HIPAA PRIVACY NOTICE DEADLINE NEARS

Under the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Privacy Rule, covered health plans were required to deliver a privacy notice to plan participants by April 14, 2003, for large entities (i.e., plans with annual receipts exceeding $5 million) and by April 14, 2004, for small entities (i.e., plans with annual receipts of $5 million or less). Thereafter, health plans are required to remind participants of the availability of the privacy notice, as well as how to obtain a copy, no less frequently than once every three years.... Continue the story.

4. FREE REPORT: COBRA COMPLIANCE COMPLICATIONS MULTIPLIED BY THE ECONOMIC STIMULUS LAW (ARRA)
 

Check out the Free Report, "COBRA Compliance Complications Multiplied By The Economic Stimulus Law (ARRA)," which explores timely compliance issues for employers. Learn more about which plans, entities, and individuals are covered; special enrollment rights; notification requirements; subsidy periods; and payroll offsets. Also explore subsidy documentation substantiation requirements and what to watch out for when it comes to determining whether a dismissal qualifies as an involuntary termination. Bonus: The report contains just-released guidance from the IRS.

5. HR SOAPBOX: THE CONFUSION OVER CASUAL CLOTHING

When it comes to workplace dress codes, the word "casual" has been causing confusion for decades now, and I don't think the confusion is going to stop anytime soon. That's because generic fashion terms — like "jeans," "sandals," and "tank tops" — mean such vastly different things to different people.... Continue the story.