ACLU Offers Free Booklet on Workplace Privacy Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

The ACLU of Rhode Island is offering to the public a free 36-page booklet entitled “Your Rights to Workplace Privacy in Rhode Island.” As its title indicates, the booklet answers commonly asked questions about employees’ privacy rights in the state.

Among other things, the handbook answers such questions as:

• Can my employer require me to take a drug test?
• Are there any limits on the types of questions I can be asked when I apply for a job?
• Can my employer monitor my phone or private conversations?
• Can my employer tell me how to dress or wear my hair on the job?
• Does my employer have the right to physically search me or my belongings at the workplace?

While the ACLU, as a general rule, deals with civil liberties complaints only against the government, it has had a long-standing interest and involvement in issues relating to privacy in the workplace.

The booklet is available online at the RI ACLU’s website, www.riaclu.org. Free copies of the booklet are also available by calling the ACLU at 831-7171 or writing the ACLU office at 128 Dorrance Street, Suite 220, Providence RI 02903.