What's happening
This bill requires private employers in New York to give written notice to employees before electronically monitoring their communications or internet usage.
Why it matters
Empowers employees with transparency. By requiring employers to give written notice before monitoring, employees gain clear awareness of when and how their communications or internet use at work might be surveilled, allowing them to make informed decisions about their workplace privacy.
Introduces accountability and enforcement. The bill subjects employers who fail to provide notice to escalating civil penalties, with enforcement handled by the Attorney General, creating real consequences for non-compliance and incentivizing adherence to employee privacy protections.
Clarifies limits and exceptions. The legislation specifically exempts routine IT processes that do not target individuals (like spam filters or general system maintenance), focusing only on monitoring that could affect the privacy of specific employees, thus balancing business needs with individual rights.
Standardizes notification across private employers. By mandating both individual written acknowledgment and prominent workplace postings, the law sets a uniform standard for privacy notice, reducing ambiguity and ensuring all employees, regardless of position or company size, are equally informed.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Require Notice of Employee Monitoring
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Print number 4586a
- Amend and recommit to codes
- Referred to codes
- Referred to codes
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Notify Employees of Monitoring
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Linda Rosenthal
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4586--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 15, 2019
Introduced by Sens. SANDERS, GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes -recommitted to the Committee on Codes in accordance with Senate Rule
6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to electronic monitoring
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The civil rights law is amended by adding a new section 52-c to read as follows:
§ 52-c. Employers engaged in electronic monitoring; prior notice required. 1. For purposes of this section, employer means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, or association with a place of business in the state. It shall not include the state or any political subdivision of the state.
2. (a) Any employer who monitors or otherwise intercepts telephone conversations or transmissions, electronic mail or transmissions, or internet access or usage of or by an employee by any electronic device or system, including but not limited to the use of a computer, telephone, wire, radio, or electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photo-optical systems, shall give prior written notice upon hiring to all employees who are subject to electronic monitoring. The notice required by this subdivision shall be in writing, in an electronic record, or in another electronic form and acknowledged by the employee either in writing or electronically. Each employer shall also post the notice of electronic monitoring in a conspicuous place which is readily available for viewing by its employees who are subject to electronic monitoring.
(b) For purposes of written notice required by paragraph (a) of this subdivision, an employee shall be advised that any and all telephone conversations or transmissions, electronic mail or transmissions, or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04615-03-0
S. 4586--A 2
internet access or usage by an employee by any electronic device or system, including but not limited to the use of a computer, telephone, wire, radio or electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photo-optical systems may be subject to monitoring at any and all times and by any lawful means.
3. The attorney general may enforce the provisions of this section. Any employer found to be in violation of this section shall be subject to a maximum civil penalty of 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.
4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to processes that are designed to manage the type or volume of incoming or outgoing electronic mail or telephone voice mail or internet usage, that are not targeted to monitor or intercept the electronic mail or telephone voice mail or internet usage of a particular individual, and that are performed solely for the purpose of computer system maintenance and/or protection.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the civil rights law, in relation to electronic monitor- ing
Purpose
This bill requires private employers who engage in monitoring or inter- cepting electronic communications of any employee by any electronic device or system to provide notice of such monitoring.
Summary of specific provisions
Section one amends the civil rights law by adding a new section 52(a).
Read the full memo (606 words)
Subdivision 1 defines for the purposes of the section the term employer, which shall not include the state or any political subdivision of the state.
Subdivision 2 requires private employers engaging in electronic monitor- ing, which includes monitoring or otherwise intercepting telephone conversations or transmissions, electronic mail or transmission, or internet usage of or by the employee, by any electronic device or system, to give prior notice to employees in writing, in an electronic record, or in another electronic form. The notice must be acknowledged by the employee either in writing or electronically. Employers are also required to post the notice in a conspicuous place which is readily accessible to employees. The notice shall contain the form of communi- cation and/or computer usage that will be monitored, means by which monitoring will be accomplished, frequency of monitoring, and manner in which the information will be collected, stored, and used.
Subdivision 3 allows courts to award damages and reasonable attorneys, fees to a prevailing plaintiff as well as afford injunctive relief against any employer that commits or proposes to commit a violation of this section.
Subdivision 4 authorizes the attorney general to enforce the provisions of the section. Any employer in violation of this section shall be subject to a maximum civil penalty of 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. Subdivision 5: This section does not apply to processes undertaken by employers to manage the type or volume of incoming or outgoing electronic mail or telephone voice mail or Internet usage for the purpose of computer system mainte- nance and/or protection.
Section two sets forth the effective date.
Justification
Notifying employees of computer monitoring protects employee privacy by making sure that they understand the consequences of inappropriate internet activity. According to the American Management Agency's 2007 Electronic Monitoring and Surveillance Survey, bosses who fired employ- ees for Internet misuse cited the two main reasons as violation of company policy and excessive personal use. By making guidelines of appropriate and inappropriate Internet use public, employees will be less likely to undermine company standards. Companies will retain the right to monitor computer usage, simply with the stipulation that employees are informed of surveillance practices. This knowledge will increase transparency within the organization and help to avoid lawsuits and litigation regarding invasion of privacy. Notification of computer surveillance will permit employees to make informed decisions about their internet use with full knowledge of the ramifications of their actions, while supporting companies' ability to monitor internet activ- ity within their organization.
Legislative history
2017-18: A.51 12-A - Advanced to Third Reading Calendar 2015-16: A.995 - Advanced to Third Reading Calendar; 5.7875 - Referred to Investigations and Government Operations 2013-14: A.1 180-A - Advanced to Third Reading Calendar; S.4676 - Referred to Codes 2011-12: A.1485-A - Ordered to Third Reading Calendar; S.5364 - Referred to Codes 2009-10: A.3871-B - Passed Assembly; S.4755-A - Ordered to Third Reading Calendar 2007-08: A.I1105 - Reported to Rules; 5.8178 - Referred to Labor
Fiscal implications
None to the State.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.