Substitute House Bill No. 5398
          Substitute House Bill No. 5398

              PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-142


AN ACT REQUIRING NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES OF ELECTRONIC
MONITORING BY EMPLOYERS.


    Be it enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
    (NEW) (a) As used in this section:
    (1)  "Employer"  means  any  person,  firm  or
corporation, including the state and any political
subdivision of the state which has employees;
    (2) "Employee" means  any  person who performs
services for an  employer  in  a  business  of the
employer, if the employer has the right to control
and direct the  person  as to (A) the result to be
accomplished by the  services, and (B) the details
and means by  which  such  result is accomplished;
and
    (3)   "Electronic   monitoring"    means   the
collection  of  information   on   an   employer's
premises  concerning  employees'   activities   or
communications  by any  means  other  than  direct
observation,  including the  use  of  a  computer,
telephone, wire, radio,  camera,  electromagnetic,
photoelectronic or photo-optical  systems, but not
including the collection  of  information  (A) for
security  purposes  in   common   areas   of   the
employer's premises which  are held out for use by
the public, or (B) which is prohibited under state
or federal law.
    (b) (1) Except  as provided in subdivision (2)
of this subsection,  each  employer who engages in
any type of electronic monitoring shall give prior
written  notice  to   all  employees  who  may  be
affected,  informing  them   of   the   types   of
monitoring which may  occur.  Each  employer shall
post, in a  conspicuous  place  which  is  readily
available for viewing  by  its employees, a notice
concerning  the  types  of  electronic  monitoring
which the employer  may  engage  in.  Such posting
shall constitute such prior written notice.
    (2)  When  (A)   an  employer  has  reasonable
grounds to believe  that  employees are engaged in
conduct which (i)  violates the law, (ii) violates
the legal rights of the employer or the employer's
employees, or (iii)  creates  a  hostile workplace
environment,  and (B)  electronic  monitoring  may
produce evidence of  this misconduct, the employer
may  conduct  monitoring   without   giving  prior
written notice.
    (c) The Labor  Commissioner  may  levy a civil
penalty against any  person  that the commissioner
finds to be in violation of subsection (b) of this
section, after a  hearing  conducted in accordance
with sections 4-176e  to  4-184, inclusive, of the
general statutes. The  maximum civil penalty shall
be five hundred dollars for the first offense, one
thousand dollars for  the second offense and three
thousand dollars for the third and each subsequent
offense.
    (d) The provisions  of  this section shall not
apply to a criminal investigation. Any information
obtained in the course of a criminal investigation
through the use  of  electronic  monitoring may be
used  in  a  disciplinary  proceeding  against  an
employee.

Approved June 4, 1998