New York Will Require Employers to Provide Notice of Email and Other Electronic Employee Monitoring

Employers that monitor their employees’ elec­tronic activities should note that New York State will soon require employers to (i) provide written or electronic notice to employees upon hiring of such monitoring in the workplace, and (ii) post notice of such monitoring. Any such notice must be posted conspicuously.

Although many employers already provide notice of monitoring as part of their cybersecurity and privacy programs and/or through their handbooks or other standalone policies, and although some employers also provide such notice to their employees to limit asser­tions and claims that the employees have any expec­tation of privacy in using the employer’s email and other electronic systems, New York State is raising the specter of enforcement activity and civil penalties if an employer’s notice does not describe the monitor­ing used in the employer’s systems appropriately and conspicuously.