UCF Employee Privacy In The Workplace Spreadsheet

Employee Privacy in the WorkplaceCourse Project
Instructions:
The purpose of this course project is to help you develop the skills to assess issues of privacy and autonomy in the
workplace. This project provides the opportunity to demonstrate those skills.
To complete this project, you will draw on your experience in a current or previous workplace. You may also research a
company of interest to you.
In Part One, you will evaluate the employee privacy policies of two companies.
In Part Two, you will evaluate a case to avoid defamatory language that could put an organization at legal risk.
In Part Three, you will evaluate your workplace for potential liability exposure based on Section 7 of the National Labor
Relations Act.
Except as indicated, use this document to record all your project work and responses to any questions. At a minimum, you
will need to turn in a digital copy of this document to your facilitator as part of your project completion. You may also have
additional supporting documents that you will need to submit. Your facilitator will provide feedback to help you work through
your findings.
Note: Though your work will only be seen by those grading the course and will not be used or shared outside the course,
you should take care to obscure any information you feel might be of a sensitive or confidential nature.
Complete each project part as you progress through the course. Wait to submit the project until all parts are complete. Begin
your course project by completing Part One below. A Submit Assignment button can be found on the final course project
page online. Information about the grading rubric is available on any of the course project assignment pages online. Do not
hesitate to contact your facilitator if you have any questions about the project.
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PART ONE
Evaluating Company Employee Privacy Policies
___________________________________________________________________
In this module, you explored privacy and autonomy rights in the workplace.
In this part of the course project, you will evaluate the employee privacy policies of two companies.
To complete this part of the project, you will need to find and evaluate two examples of company privacy policies. You
may want to refer to the Applying Workplace Privacy and Autonomy Concepts tool before you begin your evaluation.
Instructions:
First, spend some time searching the internet to find a few examples of employee privacy policies. Feel free to include
your own company’s policy, if it has one.
Select two privacy policies to evaluate. Provide the name of the company, organization, or government office issuing the
policy as well as a link to the policy.
1. Using the table below, fill out:
a. The name of the company, organization, or government office issuing the policy
b. Link to the policy
c. A brief review of the policy
2. For the reviews, consider the following questions:
a. How do these policies address employees’ privacy and autonomy rights?
b. Do these policies infringe on protected rights? What do you see in the policies that supports
your answer?
c. Do you think these might be problematic in any other way?
Name and link to the policy
Name:
First Company,
Organization,
or Gov’t Office
Brief policy review
Answer…
Link:
2
Name:
Second Company,
Organization,
or Gov’t Office
Answer…
Link:
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PART TWO
Evaluating Elements of Defamation
___________________________________________________________________
In this module, you explored the concept of defamation as it applies within the workplace.
In this part of the course project, you will evaluate a case to avoid defamatory language that could put an organization at
legal risk.
To complete this part of the project, you will read the following hypothetical situation, then determine how the elements of
defamation potentially expose the employer to legal liability.
Hypothetical situation:
Tracy filed an accurate expense report for a business trip, but Tracy’s supervisor told Tracy to accept
less than full reimbursement. Tracy refused, which enraged the supervisor, who fired Tracy for gross
insubordination. When a prospective employer called the supervisor as a reference check, the
supervisor said Tracy was fired for “gross insubordination.”
Instructions:
Indicate which of the four elements of defamation are present in this hypothetical situation. Provide a rationale for your
answers. You may want to refer to the Recognizing Defamatory Language tool.
Element of defamation
Present in this case?
Rationale for your answer
Yes / No
False and defamatory statement
Answer…
Answer…
Published
Answer…
Answer…
Fault
Answer…
Answer…
Special harm
Answer…
Answer…
Answer
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Did the employer abuse its conditional privilege to publish the statement by:
1. Knowing the statement was false or acting with reckless disregard to its truth or falsity?
2. Excessively publishing in making the statement to persons who had no legitimate interest in receiving it?
Answer…
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PART THREE
Evaluating Your Workplace for
Potential Liability Exposure Based on Section 7
___________________________________________________________________
In this module, you explored the issues related to Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act regarding the collective
rights of workers to advocate for better terms and conditions of employment.
In this part of the course project, you will evaluate your workplace for potential liability exposure based on Section 7.
To complete this part of the project, you will reflect on situations in your workplace with the potential for legal exposure
and assess ways to avoid this exposure.
Instructions:
Read Section 7 of the NLRA below and consider how the statute applies to your workplace. Then answer the questions
that follow.
Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act [29 U.S.C. § 157.]
Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain
collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the
purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and shall also have the right to refrain from any
or all of such activities…
1. Describe specific examples of protected concerted activity for mutual aid or protection that have occurred in your
workplace. How have these been handled by management? Alternatively, you may choose to describe examples that
could potentially occur in your workplace and describe how you think management would respond.
Protected Activity
Description
Management response
Example 1
Answer…
Answer…
Example 2
Answer…
Answer…
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2. Describe specific examples of unprotected concerted activity for mutual aid or protection that have occurred or could
occur in your workplace.
Unprotected Activity
Description
Management response
Example 1
Answer…
Answer…
Example 2
Answer…
Answer…
3. Write a paragraph in which you suggest ways that your company can avoid liability exposure related to the collective
rights of workers.
Answer…
________________________________
To submit this assignment, please refer to the instructions in the course.
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