# Workplace legalities: listening to private conversations. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157 "2009-11-11T05:56:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/21 "2009-11-12T18:34:48Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You find it dubious that her head didn’t explode and her ears didn’t bleed? Heh. Not literally, but that’s a lotta outrage. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/22 "2009-11-12T19:01:33Z")
Well, **elbows** _asked her_ if her head exploded or her ears bled. Presumably, one wouldn’t take much notice of bleeding ears in the context of an exploding head, but that’s neither here nor there. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/23 "2009-11-12T19:16:46Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > If they’re using an autodialer, presumably the agent at home is wearing a headset and is always connected to the dialer in the office. They’ll get some notice that they’re about to put on with a caller, but in between calls, if they keep the headset on & unmuted, anything they say will still go out over the headset-\>autodialer connection and be audible to a monitoring supervisor. This is it exactly. When beginning this job (and as a caution to all people we speak to) we are aware that our CALLS are being monitored for quality and training. \*\* None of us were informed that our activities between calls can also be tracked.\*\* Given that the company only pays for our seconds/minutes on a phone call, and that all the dead-time between calls is NOT, it concerns me that the company is intruding into my private space/time at a time they are not really supposed to I guess. The explanation from the supervisor yesterday basically boiled down to, “Yes, we can hear what you are up to between calls, and oh, dear, that’s tough for you innit?” I’ve had time to mull over the implications, and today will be sending a letter of concern to senior management about the issue. kam ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/24 "2009-11-12T19:22:48Z")
That’s a tough call (no pun intended)–they only pay you when the call literally starts and stops, but not while for all intents and purposes you need to be at the phone anyway? I’m vaguely surprised they can do that, since it’s not like your time is really free during those “breaks”. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/25 "2009-11-12T19:34:03Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > That’s a tough call (no pun intended)–they only pay you when the call literally starts and stops, but not while for all intents and purposes you need to be at the phone anyway? I’m vaguely surprised they can do that, since it’s not like your time is really free during those “breaks”. Yeah, I thought it was a bit dodgy when I started here too **gigi**. I _think_ that while you are actively waiting for a call to come through it is paid-for, but there is a time called ‘wrap’ (after you’ve finished a call with a punter, but still busy submitting data into the system) that is NOT paid for. Also if the main-office is having tech problems, or if for any reason the data is buggered-up, that time is also not covered by the company. You’re right, your time is not free at all even though you are connected to the phone for all the time you are rostered onto a shift (minus compulsory breaks). But otherwise, it is a great job and suits my purposes just fine. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/26 "2009-11-12T20:08:23Z")
Between calls, do you have the option of muting the headset? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/27 "2009-11-12T20:20:24Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > I recently contacted a company and was speaking with a representative when I heard a baby crying in the background. I said “Was that a baby?” and she apologized and said she was working from home. I don’t see anywhere where she said she was taking care of the baby, or using her work-at-home situation as a replacement for day care. There could easily have been someone else there taking care of the kid. The Littlest Briston knows damn well that if she wants to throw a tantrum, she’s putting her life on the line if she does it anywhere near daddy’s office. I wouldn’t expect a baby to know the difference. Still, the whole situation is unprofessional. I hope for the call center worker’s sake that this was a one-off situation, and she really isn’t trying to help customers while rocking a cradle with her foot. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/28 "2009-11-12T20:21:50Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > Between calls, do you have the option of muting the headset? I do have that option, and will be exercising it CONSTANTLY from now on **Tastes of Chocolate.** 😃 It’s really more that we phone workers were **never informed** that our phones could and would be monitored between active calls, so previously I’ve never felt the need to mute. Actually, I’m mostly here by myself during my worktime, so it’s not like I have anything to hide anyway. It’s also the business ethics of accessing my time when not paying for that time etc. I think that’s what gripes me most of all. I’ll get back after I’ve spoken to HR about the issue. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/29 "2009-11-12T20:22:28Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > but there is a time called ‘wrap’ (after you’ve finished a call with a punter, but still busy submitting data into the system) that is NOT paid for. Ack. Entering THEIR data and it’s not paid for?! I’m glad this job works for you on the whole. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/30 "2009-11-12T20:23:59Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Yeah, I thought it was a bit dodgy when I started here too **gigi**. I _think_ that while you are actively waiting for a call to come through it is paid-for, but there is a time called ‘wrap’ (after you’ve finished a call with a punter, but still busy submitting data into the system) that is NOT paid for. Also if the main-office is having tech problems, or if for any reason the data is buggered-up, that time is also not covered by the company. You’re right, your time is not free at all even though you are connected to the phone for all the time you are rostered onto a shift (minus compulsory breaks). > > But otherwise, it is a great job and suits my purposes just fine. 🙂 Are you employees, or independent contractors? ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/31 "2009-11-12T20:33:22Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Are you employees, or independent contractors? Employees **RNATB**. Under workplace legislation here in Aus, we are employed under a ‘Casual Award’, which means we do not receive a salary, but are paid for our time on an hour-by-hour (or minute-by-minute heh) basis. We do not attract holiday or sick leave, but the tax benefits are slightly more generous to casual workers to (partly) make up for these deficits. Of course, being casual also means that we can pick and choose which hours we would like to work, and if something comes up and we need to finish our workday early (sick dog, appointments, feeling bored to death etc) we can do so with little-to-no repercussions. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/32 "2009-11-12T20:39:16Z")
Didn’t notice your location before. Guess that would change things as far as legality goes - but again, in the US, your employer can spy on you at work pretty much any way it likes and doesn’t even have to tell you about it (except in Delaware and Connecticut.) ---
**Author:** ![Emmy2635](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/919ad9/32.png) [@Emmy2635](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emmy2635)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/33 "2009-11-13T01:13:44Z")
I won’t speak on Australian law, but just so you U.S. dopers know, employers are required by law to immediately stop monitoring phone calls when they are aware that it is of a personal nature (Watkins vs. LM Berry 1983). ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/34 "2009-11-13T02:34:37Z")
> [@Emmy2635](#): > > I won’t speak on Australian law, but just so you U.S. dopers know, employers are required by law to immediately stop monitoring phone calls when they are aware that it is of a personal nature (Watkins vs. LM Berry 1983). Thank you very much for that information **Emmy2635**. There are some slight differences between the situations, but enough commonality to make the case you cited perhaps pertinent if I find a need to take this further. Cheers kam ---
**Author:** ![Recliner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a88e57/32.png) [@Recliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recliner)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/35 "2009-11-13T08:13:41Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > Luxury or not, sucks for her or not… I’m sure it’s against the rules. I know it’s expensive to have a babysitter, but I’m pretty sure it’s against the rules of where she works. The reality is that she’s being paid to do a job to a certain standard and I’m pretty sure having her crying baby around during calls wouldn’t meet that standard. Still, this is enough of a hijack, right? Out of curiousity, since you knew it was a baby – what did you want them to say? Give an apology for their lack of professionalism? With all the things that do suck about dealing with people over the phone, the possibility that they might have a baby nearby (or a dog – I’ve noticed this at home-offices) means little to me if the person is serving me well. But uh, yeah, not to continue the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/36 "2009-11-13T09:56:04Z")
> [@Recliner](#): > > Out of curiousity, since you knew it was a baby – what did you want them to say? Give an apology for their lack of professionalism? With all the things that do suck about dealing with people over the phone, the possibility that they might have a baby nearby (or a dog – I’ve noticed this at home-offices) means little to me if the person is serving me well. But uh, yeah, not to continue the hijack. Don’t fret it **Recliner** , SWB is one of our more strident posters, and always likes to make her presence felt in a thread, even if it is the most negative way. Hang around here a bit, and you’ll get used to the idiosyncratic ways of the likes of her…and a plethora of others as well. :D:D ---
**Author:** ![jeanluc1968](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@jeanluc1968](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeanluc1968)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/37 "2009-11-15T04:07:30Z")
Having worked in upper management at a virtual call center and having owned a real call center here are some thoughts… A) you are working on talk time, yes but you are using a ‘company dialer’, all beit a virtual one. EVERY line on a virtual dialer is recorded. The company has to do that in case of misrepresentations. No company wants to be held up by a lawsuit because a virtual agent misrepresented the company. Doing these searchs is very time consuming, and most virtual call centers won t admit to it. Because they don t want agents or clients demanding it. It s way too costly. But rest assured, if you are working in a virtual call center, everything is recorded. If you don t believe me, then, go ahead and look up virtual dialers and look into the few companies that make them, and everyone of them will list live recording as a feature that is standard. B) In your sign up kit, most virtual call centers will provide you with a list of what you should have for equipement. Most of them will advise you to get a headset with a mute function or to use the mute function that is built into the software. The call center does NOT want to hear your rantings with your family during your off time. All that is doing is cloggin up QA time. But if you fail to excercise your option to mute, then that is your responsibility, not the call centers. C) The QA agent will stroll from line to line to do their monitoring. Some software will high light live calls, others will highlight live noise. Either way, the QA agent must jump from line to line, and if he/she hears something, well they can t turn around and unlisten. The only possible point of contention here is if the QA overheard something that was inapropriate to be re-transmitted over the chat system. D) Expectation of privacy & legality - While you are logged into a dialer (vitual or otherwise), you are legitimately opening a microphone into your space, whether that be at a call center station or into your home. What reasonable expectation of privacy can you have when you have knowingly turned on a microphone into your space? Again there is the mute bottom, and all virtual dialers also have a ‘break’ function that will disable your line in temporarily without logging you out. No part of the above mentioned conversation was private. It is fair to assume that both the agent in question and probably her family were aware of the phone/dialer being on. In conclusion, unless the comments made were inappropriate, you have nothing to complain about. And doing so is certainly going to alienate your superiors, and might cost you your job. The call center has probably done nothing wrong, and has given everyone the option to have some privacy. If an agent is not concerned about getting privacy and not muted their phone, then it s no one s fault but that agents. ---
**Author:** ![jeanluc1968](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@jeanluc1968](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeanluc1968)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/38 "2009-11-15T04:35:29Z")
Also, the case of Watkins vs. LM Berry 1983 has nothing to do with this type of situation. In the Watkins case, the call was during an obvious down time (her lunch period) and using a land line (not a dialer). You should be looking at this case in the US Simmons v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co, in which case the line in (via dialer) is exclusively for calling purposes and thus the agent should know that all audible communications can be recorded, and thus gives up any rights to privacy while not muted. For future reference, whenever calling or dealing with a call center, do understand that everything is recorded, whether they advise you or not, and there is no breach in any privacy laws by doing so. Not in Australia, not in the US, not anywhere. No company wants to be liable for an agent who usually is at an entry level position but can easily misrepresent the company. ---
**Author:** ![jeanluc1968](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@jeanluc1968](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeanluc1968)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/39 "2009-11-15T05:45:14Z")
quote… You should be looking at this case in the US Simmons v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co, in which case the line in (via dialer) is exclusively for calling purposes and thus the agent should know that all audible communications can be recorded, and thus gives up any rights to privacy while not muted. in ( ) should be (similar to in this case via a dialer) ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157/40 "2009-11-15T05:55:57Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Don’t fret it **Recliner** , SWB is one of our more strident posters, and always likes to make her presence felt in a thread, even if it is the most negative way. > > Hang around here a bit, and you’ll get used to the idiosyncratic ways of the likes of her…and a plethora of others as well. > > :D:D O please, you drama queen. How dare someone give an opinion against the popular notion around the dope. Also, you do realize you’re giving “advice” about hanging around the dope to someone who has been here for four years, right? **Recliner** has been a member since 2004 so I doubt your down homey “hang around a bit” ridiculousness is helpful. I’ll take strident as a compliment from someone who’s cowering at at the thought of someone at their phone job listening in on family secrets and gossiping about them. Don’t fret Puddin, it’ll be ok. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-legalities-listening-to-private-conversations/517157.md?page=3)