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(Insert Your Street Address Here (Insert Your City , State , and ZIP Here

August 18 , 2007

The Honorable Dianne Feinstein

One Post Street , Suite 2450

San Francisco , CA 94104

Dear Senator Feinstein

It has come to my attention that there are very few laws regulating employee monitoring . I do have concerns regarding this issue , thus the reason for my contact with you . Of course employers want to be sure that their employees are doing an acceptable job , but employees do not wish for every trip to the water cooler or sneeze

, for that matter , to be documented and logged for ammunition

Usually , when an employer states a policy regarding any issue within the workplace , including privacy issues , that policy is legally binding These policies can be communicated in various ways from employee handbooks , via memos , and within union contracts . If an employer explicitly states within the policy that employees will be notified when telephone monitoring takes place , for example , the employer should be forced to honor that statement as procedure . Yet , it seems that there are exceptions and loop-holes for investigation that , I feel , violates certain privacies that are mandatory in the employee-employer relationship

I have done some research on the matter , prior to contacting you According to the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College , nine out of ten employers observe most , if not all of their employees ' electronic behavior . With the advancements in technology , there is virtually nothing that can be done on a computer that is not able to be monitored by management . As if that were not enough , a survey conducted by Forrester Research and Proof Point found that thirty-eight percent of businesses hire staff who 's sole purpose is to sift through each individual e-mail correspondence sent to and from each employee 's workstation . This is not something that should be done without notice to the employee or probable cause

Senator Feinstein , I recognize the delicacy of the situation and understand the fact that communication and time spent within the office environment and on the clock is the boss 's business . However , the extraordinary lengths that some employers will go to , to monitor their workforce can result in a sense of being degraded , potential legal danger , and utter embarrassment . An employer may only be hurting themselves when privacy is not respected , at least to some fair extent

Studies have shown that productivity often spirals downward rapidly when workers are knowingly being monitored to such lengths and their health can be adversely affected as a consequence . For example , a 2003 study found that these workers suffered more depression , extreme anxiety severe fatigue and exhaustion in addition to strain injuries , and neck problems , than those workers who were not monitored or unknowingly so and in minimal and only necessary form . Without substantial and appropriate legislation in place soon , a larger problem may arise from the leading issues that have come about

As a means to counteract such potential threat more specific laws must be implemented in an effort...