Workplace Privacy
Free Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States practice — 6 questions on Workplace Privacy, with explanations. No sign-up. Full 12-question mixed test →
An employer in a one-party-consent state extends a conditional job offer contingent on a background check. The consumer reporting agency's report reveals a 10-year-old assault conviction, and the employer decides not to hire the candidate based on this finding. Under the FCRA, what must the employer do before taking final adverse action?
FCRA §604(b)(3) requires a two-step adverse action process: employers must first send a pre-adverse action notice including a copy of the consumer report and the Summary of Consumer Rights, then allow a reasonable waiting period (commonly interpreted as around 5 business days) before finalizing the adverse action.
A national retail company records customer service calls for quality assurance purposes without informing employees the calls are recorded. Several employees work from a state that requires all parties to consent to call recording. Which statement BEST reflects the company's compliance obligation?
The ECPA sets a federal floor permitting one-party consent (plus a narrow business-extension exception for ordinary-course business calls), but state wiretap statutes requiring all-party consent are more protective and control when the monitored party is located there; the employer must obtain employee consent to satisfy the stricter state standard.
During an internal harassment investigation, an HR manager instructs the complainant not to discuss the case with any coworkers for the duration of the investigation, applying this rule to every investigation regardless of circumstances. Under the NLRB's guidance applicable even to non-union workplaces, what is the primary privacy-related risk of this blanket policy?
Under the NLRB's Banner Health/Apogee Retail line of guidance, the NLRA's Section 7 protections extend to non-union employees discussing terms and conditions of employment; blanket, non-individualized confidentiality directives during investigations can unlawfully chill this activity unless the employer articulates a case-specific justification (e.g., witness protection, evidence integrity, ongoing threat of retaliation).
Which federal statute prohibits most private employers from requiring job applicants or employees to take a polygraph examination as a condition of employment?
The Employee Polygraph Protection Act (1988) generally bars private-sector employers from using lie detector tests for pre-employment screening or during employment, subject to narrow exceptions such as security service providers, pharmaceutical manufacturers/distributors, and ongoing investigations of specific workplace incidents involving economic loss.
Under the FCRA, how does an 'investigative consumer report' differ from a standard 'consumer report' in terms of employer disclosure obligations?
FCRA §606 imposes additional obligations for investigative consumer reports, which are based on personal interviews regarding a consumer's character, reputation, or lifestyle: upon the consumer's written request, the employer must disclose the nature and scope of the investigation within 5 days of the request or of when the report was first requested, whichever is later.
A hiring manager asks a candidate to log into their personal Facebook account during an interview so the manager can review privacy-restricted posts before extending an offer. The company is located in a state with a 'social media password protection' law. What is the MOST accurate statement about this practice?
Numerous states have enacted social media password protection statutes that prohibit employers from requesting or requiring access to applicants' or employees' personal social media login credentials or restricted content, regardless of whether the request is framed as 'optional' during an interview.
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