We’ve got nearly a sold-out crowd for this Friday’s joint program on Data Privacy and Noteworthy Human Resources Issues produced by my firm, Shipman & Goodwin, and the Connecticut chapter of SHRM. I’ll be moderating the morning session and also putting on one of the programs.
In my hour-long talk, I’ll touch on some of the key developments over the last year and some predictions for 2016.
Among the topics: Connecticut’s new law protecting employee online privacy and social media accounts.
I recapped the new law back in May, but since then, the law has gone into effect and we’ve started encouraging employers to review their employee handbooks to reference this law.
A few things to keep in mind:
What Does The Bill Do Generally?
This bill prohibits employers from requesting or requiring an employee or job applicant to (1) provide the employer with a user name, password, or other way to access the employee’s or applicant’s personal online account (see below); (2) authenticate or access such an account in front of the employer; or (3) invite, or accept an invitation from, the employer to join a group affiliated with such an account.
What Are Employers Prohibited from Doing?
1. firing, disciplining, or otherwise retaliating against an employee who (a) refuses to provide this access or (b) files a complaint with a public or private body or court about the employer’s request for access or retaliation for refusing such access and
2. refusing to hire an applicant because the applicant would not provide access to his or her personal online account.
What Is Meant By A “Personal Online Account”?
[It’s an] online account the employee or applicant uses exclusively for personal purposes unrelated to any of the employer’s business purposes, including e-mail, social media, and retail-based Internet web sites.
But there’s obviously even more to the law. For that, you’ll just have to attend Friday’s session. You can still sign up for the webinar piece here.