Recording of phone calls

[SMF88011]

What is the name of your state? CA

Company is a small insurance business headquartered in S. CA. It has workers working from home in NV, UT, CA, and overseas.

The company's incoming calls have the "this call may be recorded" if you call into their customer service #. Workers have been told that they do NOT record the calls however. The problem - one of the supervisors secretly records phone calls and uses the recordings to snoop. She also reads other people's emails, etc.

How do I know that they are recording? Unofficially, a friend that has access to the recordings told me that they do. I also suspected it when the supervisor has all communications go through WhatsApp and personal cell phones, tries to avoid using the company phones, and some other things. In fact, I told her that I thought she was recording phone calls based upon the way she acts and wants things done. She denied it and my friend told me she was freaking out over my saying that I know she did it.

I know CA is a all-parties consent state when it comes to wiretaps. Businesses have the right to record phone calls. Do they need to tell their workers that they are recording the calls? A lot of our calls are automatically forwarded to our personal cell phones instead answering them on our VoIP phones.

 

[zddoodah]

Company is a small insurance business headquartered in S. CA. It has workers working from home in NV, UT, CA, and overseas.

The company's incoming calls have the "this call may be recorded" if you call into their customer service #. Workers have been told that they do NOT record the calls however. The problem - one of the supervisors secretly records phone calls and uses the recordings to snoop. She also reads other people's emails, etc.

I'm going to point out that everything you've written to this point is in the third person. In other words, there's nothing to this point to indicate that this situation involves you in anyway.

How do I know that they are recording?

In light of my comments above, why does this matter? Are you an owner of the company? An employee? A customer?

I know CA is a all-parties consent state when it comes to wiretaps. Businesses have the right to record phone calls. Do they need to tell their workers that they are recording the calls?

If one is recording a call, one is required to disclose that. If disclosure is made and the person to whom disclosure is made proceeds to participate in the call, then consent to recording is presumed.

 

[SMF88011]

The workers are not told that the calls are recorded. The only people that are told are the people calling into the business.

 

[Just Blue]

The workers are not told that the calls are recorded. The only people that are told are the people calling into the business.

Do you work for this company?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state? CA

Company is a small insurance business headquartered in S. CA. It has workers working from home in NV, UT, CA, and overseas.

The company's incoming calls have the "this call may be recorded" if you call into their customer service #. Workers have been told that they do NOT record the calls however. The problem - one of the supervisors secretly records phone calls and uses the recordings to snoop. She also reads other people's emails, etc.

How do I know that they are recording? Unofficially, a friend that has access to the recordings told me that they do. I also suspected it when the supervisor has all communications go through WhatsApp and personal cell phones, tries to avoid using the company phones, and some other things. In fact, I told her that I thought she was recording phone calls based upon the way she acts and wants things done. She denied it and my friend told me she was freaking out over my saying that I know she did it.

I know CA is a all-parties consent state when it comes to wiretaps. Businesses have the right to record phone calls. Do they need to tell their workers that they are recording the calls? A lot of our calls are automatically forwarded to our personal cell phones instead answering them on our VoIP phones.

SMF88011, are you located in California, or are you working for the California business out of Utah, Nevada, or overseas?

California’s recording law is essentially a privacy law that covers confidential communications. Here is a link to the law followed by a link to an overview of the law and how it is applied:
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=632.

https://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/california-recording-law

And here is a link to Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney, Inc., a California Supreme Court case decided in 2006 about recording out-of-state calls:
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-supreme-court/1099204.html

If the callers are told that the calls may be recorded, the employees are on notice, too, that the calls may be recorded. Employees should not be saying anything during these phone calls that their employers shouldn’t hear anyway.

I would not rely too much on second or third hand information. If you have good reason to believe your employer is violating recording laws, however, you can always report your employer.

 

[zddoodah]

The workers are not told that the calls are recorded. The only people that are told are the people calling into the business.

Please answer the questions I asked.

 

[quincy]

Please answer the questions I asked.

Give SMF88011 some time, maybe?

 

[SMF88011]

Do you work for this company?

I did. I was retaliated against when I called out my supervisor about it. She told another person about something they overheard on a call I made to HR. The information she shared with the other person is protected health information about a disability I have.

 

[Zigner]

Give SMF88011 some time, maybe?

The OP responded to one comment made by zddoodah and ignored the balance of his post. I think it was a fair request from zddoodah

 

[SMF88011]

Please answer the questions I asked.

Sorry, I was in the hospital and didn't get a chance to get on here and do something I felt was a lower priority than my health.

I suffer from a disability. I told HR and no one else about it. My supervisor shared the information about my disability to another party - both of these people are not members of HR and shouldn't have been told about the condition. I confronted my supervisor about it and the fact it was Protected Health Information which shouldn't have been shared with anyone without my permission. She made disparaging remarks about my condition (that I never told her about) and retaliated against me afterwards. Can you say HIPAA violation?

Oh, and I saw proof that they are recording the calls.

 

[SMF88011]

I'm going to point out that everything you've written to this point is in the third person. In other words, there's nothing to this point to indicate that this situation involves you in anyway.

In light of my comments above, why does this matter? Are you an owner of the company? An employee? A customer?

If one is recording a call, one is required to disclose that. If disclosure is made and the person to whom disclosure is made proceeds to participate in the call, then consent to recording is presumed.

What does it matter if it involves me or not? Yes, I worked for the company as a contractor. There was never any notification about the calls being recorded to the workers themselves; they later on tried to say that it was provided in the employee manual. Guess what? I have an email from HR saying that I didn't get an employee manual because I was a contractor. That means no notification was made to me.

My issue is that I told HR about something that is Protected Health Information. My supervisor heard about it, spread it around the company and when I confronted them about it, I was retaliated against. In fact, after I confronted the supervisor about it, they went out of their way to make the work environment for me a living hell and my contract was terminated.

Sorry I took so long to respond but I happened to be in the hospital. I guess it is my mistake to think that staying off the computer and concentrating on my health was more important than coming on here to answer questions that I felt were not important to the question in the first place.

 

[quincy]

Sorry, I was in the hospital and didn't get a chance to get on here and do something I felt was a lower priority than my health.

I suffer from a disability. I told HR and no one else about it. My supervisor shared the information about my disability to another party - both of these people are not members of HR and shouldn't have been told about the condition. I confronted my supervisor about it and the fact it was Protected Health Information which shouldn't have been shared with anyone without my permission. She made disparaging remarks about my condition (that I never told her about) and retaliated against me afterwards. Can you say HIPAA violation?

Oh, and I saw proof that they are recording the calls.

No apologies are necessary, SMF88011. Some members expect posters to respond immediately to queries and that is not in any way a requirement. I hope you have recovered from whatever ailment sent you to the hospital. Your health is absolutely more important than answering questions posed to you on a forum.

There is no private cause of action for HIPAA violations. In other words, you could file a complaint but that’s it.

It is possible, however, that you have another legal action to pursue. It could be worthwhile for you to discuss all facts with an attorney in your area.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Can you say HIPAA violation?

What you described is not a HIPAA violation unless your employer is also your health insurer. HIPAA applies only to covered entities. Covered entities are certain medical providers (doctors, nurses, nursing homes, pharmacies, etc), medical insurance companies, or health clearing houses. If your employer is not a covered entity then HIPAA simply does not apply to your situation and thus there would be no HIPAA violation.

As quincy noted, the only remedy for a HIPAA violation is to complain to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS then investigates and decides what remedy to apply.

 

[SMF88011]

The company is a small health insurance company.

 

[Zigner]

...I worked for the company as a contractor.

You are a contractor and not an employee?