The Hidden Camera

Hidden cameras and other surveillance missteps can sour employees, threaten your success or get you sued.

All things considered, Jackson Lewis's Shaw thinks, there are limited circumstances in which fake cameras are appropriate, but generally they do more harm than good. "They're a bad idea all around, in my opinion," she says.

DO think long and hard before deploying hidden cameras.

The rapid evolution of camera technologysmaller cameras, better resolution, cheaper priceshas made it easier for companies to gobble up more and more of them. But it also opens the door for more misuse of covert surveillance.

Last November, nurses at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles were in a break room when, according to accounts, they spied a thin beam of light coming from a clock. They were shocked to discover a hidden camera with a tiny lens behind the number nine. The nurses immediately spread the word to their colleagues; eventually they discovered a total of 16 hidden cameras in the clocks of break rooms, a pharmacy and a fitness center, among other locations.

In addition to the fact that the nurses hadn't been informed about the cameras, they were also upset because some of them changed their clothes in the break rooms. They felt that their right to privacy had been violated. In a press release, a California Nurses Association spokesperson said, "This is a pervasive problem throughout the hospital that is a disgraceful violation of the legal privacy rights of the RNs and reflects a deplorable attitude of the hospital administration towards its caregivers."

Hospital officials defended their actionsthey claimed the cameras were installed for security reasons, that it was standard practice in hospitals, that they had planned on informing the nurses and that the cameras hadn't been turned on. They also noted (see the first tip) that the nurses' employee handbook, which all must sign, states that surveillance might be used.

Ultimately, the messy situation might have been avoided if hospital execs had informed the nurses of their plans beforehand, explained that the cameras were for their safety and made them overt instead of covert. By neglecting to inform the nurses until the cameras had been discovered, the hospital engendered suspicion and ill will among a core group of employees.

There may still be a place for hidden cameras in a CSO's arsenal, of course. It just makes sense to deploy them wisely.

DON'T overlook the special complications of a union workforce.

Union employees have certain contractual rights that nonunion employees may lack. CSOs with unions in the workplace will need to review National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rulings specifically concerning video surveillance.