Huh?

What "right to privacy" does an employee have when they are using the business computer provided by their employer, the business network provided by their employer, during the time they are compensated by their employer, and on the business premises of their employer.

Before you can violate an individual privacy there has to be a reasonable expectation of privacy. How anyone could this suck a reasonable expectation exists in the above environment is beyond me.

Employment law solicitor Alison Love said if employers were going to monitor e-mails they must tell their employees.

I'm fairly sure that this is also the law in the U.S. as well. They can monitor all they want, so long as they let you know it's monitored. Many companies actually have a warning that comes up when you log into your PC.

Likewise, ever called a helpdesk or customer service line and heard, "Your call may be monitored or recorded to improve our service?"

the interesting part is the 'with good reason', it's something that needs to be tested unfortunately, to see where the line is, but it doesn't sound like 'because we want to know what you do' is good enough. for example, many employers allow their employees to use the internet during lunch hours or breaks without usual worktime restricitions. they wouldn't be able to use any 'not on our time' reasoning to monitor activity at these times, and it sounds like they're being told not at other times either.
think of it this way, monitoring you from the moment you log on, automatically, would be like assuming you're doing something wrong. one interpretation of this would be that they're not allowed to assume, and need some reason to start monitoring you, and then they have to tell you they're starting.

Contrary to some beliefs, commercial endeavors do not trump an inidividual's rights and individual rights do not trump the obligation to observe the law or rules governing the use of the facility.

If your employer notifies you of their intent to monitor your communications, you are forewarned, and therefore forearmed. If your employer fails to notify you or has no express policy about the use of the commercial resources for personal use, you have every right to expect privacy.

Becoming an employer does not automatically grant you the right to monitor your employees communications.

Two or three people at my previous job were fired because of something written in a personal email. I was called into a meeting about the terminations (I was a suervisor at the time),and realized the next day that the office manager had the superintendent on speaker phone without telling me. The only reason I knew then was the superintendent parroted something back to me that he hadn't been in the room to hear.

Big brother, indeed.

way to go, land of the free!

Cell phone use can also be monitored.

I've been putting my own disclaimer on all my work emails ever since my employer started adding their own. Mine is a copy of theirs, with an edit saying that "contents of this e-mail may be those of the originator and do not necessarily represent the views of" etc. etc.; my bold. If they are going to edit my emails, I refuse to take sole responsibility for them.

how do you know my boss?

damned double post!

Our company officially told us we had no expectation of privacy in company Email and I think the supreme court ruled in the same manner. So they may not have to tell you at all in the U.S. anymore. Probably ought to ask your HR people if you worry about such things.

the title of this thread definitely shines a new light on those "My Boss is a Jewish Carpenter" bumper stickers

Moreover, ZPO what if they're engaging in personal activity when they're "off the clock"? I only ask, 'cause one of your reasons was that your time was being paid for (with the assumption that you shouldn't be using the computer for personal reasons on the clock).