Louisiana to Prohibit Employer Access to Personal Online Accounts
Author: Beth P. Zoller, XpertHR Legal Editor
June 2, 2014
Louisiana recently enacted the Personal Online Account Privacy Protection Act which will, effective August 1, 2014, prohibit an employer from requesting or requiring an employee or applicant to disclose information that would allow the employer to access or observe the individual's personal online accounts. Louisiana joins over a dozen other states that have enacted similar measures, including neighboring Tennessee and Arkansas. Because the Act applies to all Louisiana employers, those located in the state should take the proper steps to ensure their relevant workplace policies and practices comply with it.
The Act applies to personal online accounts, which it defines as online accounts that an employee or job applicant uses exclusively for personal communications unrelated to the employer's business purpose. The new law will also prevent employers from discharging, disciplining or otherwise retaliating against an employee or applicant for failing to disclose personal online account information.
The new law does not prohibit an employer from:
- Requesting or requiring an employee or applicant to disclose a username, password or any other authentication information to allow it to access or operate an employer-provided, business-related electronic device, account or service;
- Disciplining or discharging an employee for transferring the employer's proprietary or confidential information or financial data to an employee's personal online account without the employer's authorization;
- Conducting an investigation into specific information about misconduct or the unauthorized transfer of the employer's confidential or proprietary information or financial data in connection with the employee's personal online account;
- Restricting or prohibiting an employee or applicant from accessing certain websites while using an employer-provided electronic communications device or the employer's network or resources;
- Complying with a legal requirement to screen applicants or monitor or retain employee communications;
- Viewing or accessing public information; or
- Requiring an employee to provide a personal email address to facilitate communication if the employer's email system fails.
An employer will not be in violation of the Act if it inadvertently receives an employee's or applicant's username, password or other authentication information so long as the employer does not use the information to access the employee's or applicant's personal online account. In addition, the Act does not require an employer to search, or monitor the activity of, an employee's personal online account.
"For employers in Louisiana going forward, they are going to have to stop asking about personal account information whether it is at the applicant phase or during employment," says David Korn, a Partner with Phelps Dunbar LLP's Labor and Employment practice group. "There is a strong trend in favor of passing legislation to protect individuals' rights in the new world of social media and that trend is impacting employee rights as well."