Here are some tips on how to conduct a search without violating your workers' privacy rights.

It happens to even the best employers: a sudden rash of thefts, a worker threatening violence, or some other possible misconduct or illegal activity in your workplace. Your first step must be to investigate the situation. As part of your investigation, you might even want to search a worker's desk or locker, install some kind of monitoring device (a camera or recorder, for example), or ask to look inside an employee's purse or backpack. How can you get the information you need without violating your workers' right to privacy?

This often leaves the matter up to the courts to decide. When judges evaluate whether a particular search is legal, they must balance two competing concerns. On the one hand, the law considers the employer's justification for performing the search: an employer with a valid, strong, and work-related reason for searching has the best chance of prevailing. For example, an employer who receives a complaint that a worker has a gun in his locker and has threatened to use it has a strong basis for a locker search.

On the other hand, the law considers the worker's reasonable expectations of privacy. A worker who legitimately expects, based on the employer's policies, past practice, and common sense, that the employer will not search certain areas has the strongest argument here. For example, a worker has a high expectation of privacy in the employee restroom or a changing area, particularly if the employer has not warned workers that these areas might be monitored.