Technological advances such as hidden cameras and monitoring software have enabled employers to observe employees’ activities in the workplace. Courts have recently found in favor of employers sued for reading e-mail, listening to voice-mail messages, and tracking Internet usage. While many contend that employee monitoring allows employers to maintain productivity, others argue that such measures violate employees’ rights to privacy.

Privacy rights advocates argue that some employers fail to fairly notify employees of monitoring policies. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), “An employer may tap an employee’s phone line, may watch his employees though a secret camera, may read his employee’s electronic mail, may search though his employee’s computer files, all of this without the employee’s consent. The employee does not even have to be told that [he is...