Tighter restrictions on employee monitoring proposed

The Business and Labor Committee heard testimony March 7 on a bill that would tighten restrictions on employers who electronically monitor employees.

LB674, introduced by Omaha Sen. Burke Harr, would define electronic monitoring as a collection of information on an employer’s premises or property owned by the employer concerning employees’ activities or communications by any means other than direct observation, including the use of a computer, telephone, wire, radio, camera, electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photooptical systems.

The bill would require an employer to notify all employees if they will be monitored electronically. An employer who engages in electronic monitoring without giving proper notice could be assessed a $100 fine for the first offense and a $500 fine for each subsequent offense.

An employer would be allowed to conduct monitoring without giving prior written notice if he or she has reasonable grounds to believe that it would provide evidence that an employee is violating the law, violating the legal rights of the employer or another employee or creating a hostile workplace environment.

Under the bill, electronic monitoring could be used in a disciplinary proceeding against an employee if the information is obtained in the course of a criminal action. Any information not obtained in the course of a criminal investigation may be used only in a disciplinary proceeding if done so within 10 days after acquiring the information. If used after the 10 day limitation, the employer could face a $1,000 fine for the first offense and a $5,000 fine for each subsequent offense.

LB674 is an attempt to provide certainty and clarity on expectations in the workplace, Harr said.

Angela Amack, lobbyist for the Nebraska Professional Firefighters Association, testified in support of the bill.

LB674 would set parameters for informing employees about what is tolerable and would provide a timeline for those parameters to be carried out, Amack said.

Ron Sedlacek, attorney and lobbyist for the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, testified in opposition to the bill.

If a company offers Internet service in the workplace, Sedlacek said, it should be assumed that Internet activity could be monitored. Furthermore, he said, some employers who monitor Internet usage do so under contract with other companies, making it difficult to obtain information within 10 days.

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.