Dear Being Videotaped at Work,
With the caveat that I am not an attorney, the short answer is I do believe your Florida employer has to notify you if you are being audio recorded in the workplace. Please consult an attorney as a legal answer is beyond my scope, but here is my best understanding.
How to Find Out if You Are Being Recorded
If you have a union, contact your union representative regarding your privacy rights. You say you are concerned about retaliation if you ask the question, but it does seem extreme to fire an employee for asking a manager or Human Resources "Am I being audio recorded at work?". It's understandable, though, if you are working in an environment that breeds fear such as you describe.
If you know someone in IT, ask them if employees are being audio recorded-they'll know.
Video Recording
Employees have fewer privacy rights at work than at home and employers can use video surveillance for legitimate business reasons. Recording staff at the nurses' station and in the med room, which are work areas, is legitimate. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) is federal and does not prohibit video monitoring. The fact that your facility installed cameras in these two employer-protected areas says that most likely they are aware of and understand the law and employee's privacy rights.
Employers can monitor telephone calls, keyboard strokes, email...anything and everything electronic as well. For example, if you used your work device (computer) to go on E-Bay or facebook a year ago....your employer has the ability to pull it up.
However, states can define what constitutes acceptable video surveillance at work. Not all have done so. California, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Rhode Island and West Virginia all have placed some limits on video recording of employees, mostly in bathrooms and changing areas. That means that other areas are permitted.
Common law, which governs video surveillance, says that employers can videotape employees as long as it doesn't violate "reasonable privacy" (break rooms and bathrooms). Essentially, you employer's right to videotape you trumps your individual privacy when you are in the work setting and on the clock.
Audio Recording
According to the American Bar Association retrieved February 2016, "Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) also applies to audio monitoring of the workplace. Employers can install recording devices in any location that is used primarily for work. But employers may not conduct audio recording of nonworking areas such as cafeterias, break rooms, or locker rooms. In practice, this means little because employers are not required to notify employees that they are being recorded and employees are unlikely to discover the hidden microphone."
However, Florida and a handful of other states have further defined and supersede this by enacting their own laws that do require "two-part" consent when being audio recorded. That means if you are being audio recorded, your employer in Florida must, at the very least, inform you.
In general, courts are on the side of the employer in cases of individual privacy versus employer's rights.
Actually, in our hi-tech world, if you think about it, you can pretty much assume that you are being recorded or can be recorded almost anywhere you go. 7-11, walking downtown, shopping in a store.
Bottom line is, be 100% professional when on the clock. It can work to your favor-I have used this tip as an aid in my own personal growth and communication- I imagine that I am being recorded as I speak, and that the recording will later be published in public, or for my mother to hear, or on Dateline.
It really, really, helps me to be professional and courteous. As you can imagine. ? Thanks for your great question. Let us know what you find out.
