Journal Facts

Journal
Journal of Individual Employment Rights
ISSN
1055-7512 (print) 1541-3799 (electronic)
Volume
2
Issue
2
Date
1/1/1993

Article Facts

Title
Managers' Workplace Privacy Rights: A Survey of Current Practice
DOI
10.2190/YWM0-CRVA-88A7-4CJW
Authors
  • Marick F. Masters
  • William S. Brown
Pages
133-151
Online Date
05/09/2002

Article Links

Managers' Workplace Privacy Rights: A Survey of Current Practice

Marick F. Masters
William S. Brown

DOI: 10.2190/YWM0-CRVA-88A7-4CJW

Abstract

Employers face important challenges in balancing individual employee rights to privacy against their legitimate right or need to know. These challenges surface in a plethora of activities, including drug and alcohol testing, psychological testing, background checks and references, and medical screening. Legal requirements associated with the upcoming implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), plus expanding employee privacy expectations, make these issues even more salient. This article attempts to gauge individual employee rights to privacy through an examination of corporate practice affecting one group of employees, namely, managers. A survey of top human resource management executives among a large sample of Fortune-ranked industrials reveals a striking contrast between the protection of individual privacy rights and the right to know in the release of data about employees. In addition, many corporations may have to scale back medical screening in consideration of the ADA. More broadly, policy makers may need to clarify employers' rights to know to reduce the burden of privacy and negligent-hiring lawsuits.

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