LB 821 | VW Tax & Business Law Blog

By Eric W. Tiritilli

If you’ve ever had the inclination to ask a job applicant or employee for their log-in information or passwords to their personal accounts, you should run – and not walk – away from such ideas. Not only is requiring an employee to reveal passwords to their personal accounts unlikely to win any points with the employee, it will become illegal in Nebraska once a bill passed by the Nebraska legislature is signed by the Governor.

Legislative Bill 821 will make it illegal to require an employee or an applicant to disclose their user name or password to a personal internet account, to require them to log into their personal account in front of the employer, to require them to change their personal account settings, to add someone (including the employer) to their personal account or to penalize an employee for failing to take such actions.

LB 821 does not prohibit employers from maintaining polices regarding the use of the employer’s equipment and internet (but don’t forget that the NLRB has had a lot to say on these topics). Nevertheless, the new law would prohibit an employer from intruding on the “personal” internet accounts of an employee. So, if you’ve ever been tempted to ask an employee for a peek at their personal internet accounts – just say no!

On April 13, 2016, the Nebraska legislature passed LB 821, sending the Workplace Privacy Act to the governor for signature. Recently, with over 43% of employers using social networks to research employees and applicants, a significant debate occurred pertaining to the privacy an applicant should have in regards to the information on these sites. In light of the failed attempts to regulate at a federal level, almost half the states have enacted legislation that deals with the same issues as Nebraska’s Workplace Privacy Act.

The new law prohibits an employer from requesting or requiring the employee, or even an applicant, from turning over passwords and usernames for social networking accounts. Similarly, the law also prohibits the employer from requesting access to the account via the employee or applicant logging on for them. Moreover, these protections cannot be waived by the employee, nor should an employer ask for a waiver as a condition of employment.

While the new law provides protection to an employee or applicant from giving unfettered access to social networking accounts, it does not change the employer’s access to information already in the public domain. However, should an employer violate this law, the employee or applicant now has recourse and can file a civil action within one year of the violation.