Can a phone company as an employer use employee’s personal phone records to support wrongfully conduct practices?
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Can a phone company as an employer use employee’s personal phone records to support wrongfully conduct practices?
Asked on May 21, 2013 under Employment Labor Law
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
Yes, but only if--
a) Calls were made from the company phones (both landlines and company-issued cell phones), since those phones belong to the company and the records of calls made on those phones--even personal calls--are the company's records, not the employees (the same that if someone makes a call from a friend's house, the friend can see the record of that call).
b) The employee agreed, such as in a contract, or in acknowledging receipt of and acceptance of an employe handbook containing terms and conditions of employment, to allow the phone company to have access.
c) The company validly and lawfully gained access to such records, such as through a subpoena.
However, other than as above, even the phone company cannot simply see an employee's phone records made from the employee's own personal phones. (But note: if the call is made to someone at work, then the company could still the record of the incoming call to a company phone.)
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