FAQ

CIPA and California’s Right to Privacy in the Workplace

Hidden cameras, screen recorders, keystroke logging devices: the tools of surveillance seem to be everywhere nowadays, in spaces you’d expect as well as in some more surprising places. And with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread work-from-home for many workers, that list of places has expanded to include the place many of us value privacy the most—our homes. Fortunately, you aren’t defenseless against invasions of your privacy in the workplace, wherever that may be. One of the earliest privacy protections passed by the California Legislature, the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”), first passed in 1967, is also one of the most important defenses workers in California have against nosy employers who overstep the boundaries of your legally protected right to privacy. While CIPA was originally a law primarily outlawing wiretapping, today it protects Californians from a broad range of intrusive monitoring techniques. The following is a series of frequently asked questions you may have about your privacy rights and how to protect them in the workplace.

• Q: What does California law cover?

  A: CIPA prevents any third party from recording or listening in on certain communications without the consent of the individuals who are having the conversation. Although originally written specifically to apply to messages sent and received by telephone, telegraph, and the like, the meaning of “communication” has been interpreted very broadly since the law was first passed, and now applies to a wide range of technology, including cameras and the internet. Some judges have even said that accessing a website may count as a protected “communication” that cannot be recorded.

• Q: What counts as a “confidential” or private communication?

  A: To be protected under the law, most communications must have been “confidential,” meaning that you reasonably expected that the conversation was private.

• Q: What does the law prevent my employer from doing?

  A: First and foremost, CIPA is aimed at preventing “wiretapping,” which broadly means that your employer cannot read or attempt to read any messages or other information you send through most technologies. This includes the act of recording any such communications. Additionally, your employer is prohibited from making any use of the information it acquires through these prohibited means.

• Q: When is my employer allowed to record my private conversations?

  A: Generally, your employer can record you by obtaining your consent, but only if they do so before recording or listening in on your conversations. Additionally, your employer must obtain the consent of all people involved in the conversation before recording it.

• Q: Can I be visually surveilled in the workplace?

  A: California law does allow an employer to install video-only cameras in public areas of a workplaces so long as the employer has a legitimate, security-related reason for doing so and first notifies employees before beginning to record. Cameras are prohibited in private areas, such as restrooms, locker rooms, and areas designated for employees to change clothes.

• Q: What about other types of private information I want to protect?

  A: The law surrounding worker privacy is constantly growing and evolving. Here in California, the Legislature passed a law called the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) that went into effect in 2018. The law has been updated since then to include new protections for employees’ confidential personal information held by their employers. There are also laws both here in California and on the federal level strictly limiting what information an employer can ask for or obtain about you during the hiring process. It’s important to stay up-to-date about recent changes to the law to better protect yourself from violations of your rights.

• Q: How do I know if I’m being recorded without my consent, and how do I protect myself?

  A: It’s generally very hard to know for sure if you’re being surveilled or recorded by your employer or another third party. Surveillance and recording of conversations is significantly more common in some industries than it is in others, such as telemarketing, customer service, and debt collection. A key way to protect yourself and your privacy rights is to communicate with your employer about it directly and ask. Being clear about whether or not you are providing consent to recording is also critical.
  It can be deeply disturbing—and even frightening—to learn that your employer or someone else is violating your privacy and listening in on your private conversations without your consent, but you aren’t powerless to fight back against it. If you think you are being surveilled or recorded without your consent, or have any questions about any of the issues discussed in this newsletter, feel free to contact us at (310) 438-5555 for more information.

New Cannabis Workplace Protections

• Q: What does California law cover?

  A:CIPA prevents any third party from recording or listening in on certain communications without the consent of the individuals who are having the conversation. Although originally written specifically to apply to messages sent and received by telephone, telegraph, and the like, the meaning of “communication” has been interpreted very broadly since the law was first passed, and now applies to a wide range of technology, including cameras and the internet. Some judges have even said that accessing a website may count as a protected “communication” that cannot be recorded.

• Q: What counts as a “confidential” or private communication?

  A: To be protected under the law, most communications must have been “confidential,” meaning that you reasonably expected that the conversation was private.

• Q: What does the law prevent my employer from doing?

  A: First and foremost, CIPA is aimed at preventing “wiretapping,” which broadly means that your employer cannot read or attempt to read any messages or other information you send through most technologies. This includes the act of recording any such communications. Additionally, your employer is prohibited from making any use of the information it acquires through these prohibited means.

• Q: When is my employer allowed to record my private conversations?

  A: Generally, your employer can record you by obtaining your consent, but only if they do so before recording or listening in on your conversations. Additionally, your employer must obtain the consent of all people involved in the conversation before recording it.

• Q: Can I be visually surveilled in the workplace?

  A: California law does allow an employer to install video-only cameras in public areas of a workplaces so long as the employer has a legitimate, security-related reason for doing so and first notifies employees before beginning to record. Cameras are prohibited in private areas, such as restrooms, locker rooms, and areas designated for employees to change clothes.

• Q: What about other types of private information I want to protect?

  A: The law surrounding worker privacy is constantly growing and evolving. Here in California, the Legislature passed a law called the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) that went into effect in 2018. The law has been updated since then to include new protections for employees’ confidential personal information held by their employers. There are also laws both here in California and on the federal level strictly limiting what information an employer can ask for or obtain about you during the hiring process. It’s important to stay up-to-date about recent changes to the law to better protect yourself from violations of your rights.

• Q: How do I know if I’m being recorded without my consent, and how do I protect myself?

  A: It’s generally very hard to know for sure if you’re being surveilled or recorded by your employer or another third party. Surveillance and recording of conversations is significantly more common in some industries than it is in others, such as telemarketing, customer service, and debt collection. A key way to protect yourself and your privacy rights is to communicate with your employer about it directly and ask. Being clear about whether or not you are providing consent to recording is also critical.

Minimum Wage Newsletter

With inflation on the rise and ordinary people finding it more challenging every day to stretch their dollar as far as it can go, every dollar in your pocket counts. That’s why it’s important especially now to ensure that the minimum wage earned by working people goes far enough to cover all of everyday life’s basic expenses.

Yet that is precisely what California state officials failed to do—at least, according to a lawsuit recently filed by supporters of a proposed ballot measure that would have put the decision before California voters in this November’s elections whether to raise the state’s minimum wage rate to $18 an hour. Due to a series of technical missteps, including what its proponents claim was California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber’s use of an incorrect deadline for certification of the proposed ballot initiative, the measure will not appear on your ballot this fall.

It’s unclear at this time how the lawsuit against the Secretary of State will proceed or whether advocates of an $18 minimum wage will be able to take another shot at passing the measure later down the line, potentially during the next statewide elections in late 2024. Whatisclear is that working people and their supporters will have to look to other ways to protect the value of the wages they earn in the meantime.

To that end, here is a list of some questions you might have about California’s minimum wage, where it stands now, where it’s going, and how you can best protect yourself from corner-cutting employers trying to avoid paying what’s owed.

• What is the minimum wage, and when does my employer owe it to me?

  On its face, the minimum wage is not a complicated idea: it is the bare-minimum level of pay that an employer must provide to you for your time spent on the job. The right to be paid minimum wage cannot be waived—meaning your employer cannot trap you into agreeing to work for free—and it applies toallyour time spent working on tasks for your employer defined as “compensable” under California law. Even a very short amount of time spent working must be paid at least at the minimum wage rate. That means (for example) that your employermustpay you for time you spend waiting in line with other employees on your shift to clock in.
  You may also be entitled to payment of the minimum wage for various other “non-work” activities, such as when your employer requires you to show up to work but does not actually put you to work or when you are required to be “on-call” and ready to start work on short notice.

• Who is required to be paid minimum wage in California?

  Most employees in the State of California who are paid on an hourly basis are entitled to receive at least the statewide minimum wage for every hour of work. This includes any individual regardless of age, disability, immigration status, or membership in a union.
  On the other hand, employees who are salaried (i.e., not paid on an hourly basis) and independent contractors are not entitled to the statewide minimum wage. With some exceptions, salespeople who work on a commission basis are also not entitled to an hourly minimum wage. California law defines each of these exceptions to the general rule requiring payment of the minimum wage, and an employer is not permitted to define you, for example, as an “independent contractor” simply to avoid paying you a minimum wage.

• What is the current minimum wage rate in California, and when will it increase next?

  The current statewide minimum wage in California is $15 an hour for employees of larger businesses (25 or more employees), and $14 an hour for employees of smaller businesses (25 or fewer employees). In May, Governor Newsom announced that the statewide minimum will increase to $15.50 an hour forallemployees, regardless of the employer’s size, beginning on January 1, 2023.
  Due to a 2016 change to the California Labor Code, the statewide minimum wage rate is set to increase annually when inflation is at seven percent or more over the previous fiscal year. Because of this, working Californians may see another increase in the minimum wage if inflation continues at its present clip.

• What if I live in a part of the State with higher costs of living?

  In addition the statewide rules, many individual cities in California have their own, higher minimum wage rates. Employers operating within the city or county limits of these locales are required to pay employees at the higher, local rate. For example, Los Angeles County currentlyrequiresemployers to pay a $15.96 minimum wage.

• How do I know if I’m being paid minimum wage for all my work?

  California law requires all employers to issue physical wage statements to employees providing information about wages earned by the employee. The purpose of these wage statements is to provide you with basic information about your wages and other compensation in order to help you determine whether you have been paid properly. Make sure that you hold on to any such wage statements given to you by your employer, as these can be important evidence if you believe your employer is not paying you everything you are owed.
  Many of the issues outlined above relating to minimum wage in California may appear deceptively simple on the surface, but ultimately require a deep knowledge of and familiarity with the law in order to hold an employer accountable. Even in the best of times, working people depend on legal protections like the minimum wage in order to stay afloat. In these uncertain economic times, that need is all the greater.
  If you have any questions about anything discussed in this newsletter or believe that you may have a claim against your employer, feel free to contact us at (310) 438-5555 for further information.