Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington

Re: monitoring systems in workplace

I'm not going to register an opinion as to whether this is right or wrong, only whether it is legal or not.

It's pretty well established that an employer may monitor employees any place that they do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. In the public areas of the convenience store, you do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. If the employer is taping you in the employee restroom, or searching lockers where you lock your things with your own lock during work, that's an invasion of your reasonable expectation of privacy.

Adding the audio component edges close to the federal Wiretap Act, which protects "oral communication", not just phone calls. However, the Wiretap Act protects "oral communication uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that such communication is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying such expectation." Arguably, if you know your employer is monitoring you on video camera, you don't have a reasonable expectation that your oral communications are private.

So short answer; your employer's activities are probably legal, though your employer probably should have advised you that both visual and audio monitoring was possible.

At this point, since you are now on notice, no matter how you discovered it, you have no more reasonable expctation of privacy. However, if you suffer an adverse employment action as a result, you might still want to consult an attorney at that point. Particularly, if you suffer an adverse employment action (firing, pay cut, hours cut, reprimand, whatever) because of discussions with other employees (NOT with customers or other non-employees and NOT in the presence of customers) about dissatisfaction with working conditions, you may have a case based on violation of your LMRA section 7 rights. It does not matter that you are not a union member and that you are not contemplating forming a union; you still have a protected right to discuss working conditions with other employees of the employer. However, a long legal battle might be required to protect those rights, so I am not encouraging you to intentionally test them in from of the cameras. Just keep that knowledge in your hip pocket in case things go sour. Good luck!