Can Your California Employer Share Your Personal Information?
As an employee, you are required to share a lot of personal information with your employer. But in the state of California, employees are afforded certain protections when it comes to that information. Among them: 1) When and with whom you employer can share your personal information, and 2) What information your employer can collect.
Though many countries now have federal employee data-protection laws, the United States is not one of them. However, California passed the country’s first comprehensive law designed to protect the personal information of employees and consumers — the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
Contact a Los Angeles employee privacy and rights lawyer if you believe that your employer disclosed your personal information and violated your privacy rights.
How Does the CCPA Protect Your Personal Information?
Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, employers in California must provide notice to employees when collecting their personal information for the following purposes:
- Employment
- Recruitment
- Contracting
While the CCPA covers not only employees but also job applicants and independent contractors, the law does not cover all companies in California. Only the following employers are covered under the CCPA:
- Private companies with revenue exceeding $25 million
- Companies that market information of 50,000 or more California residents
- Companies that get more than 50 percent of their annual revenue from marketing information of California residents
If you are not sure whether or not your employer is required to comply with the CCPA, consult with an attorney.
What Information Can Your Employer Collect?
When applying for a new job, you may notice that your potential employer requests a lot of personal information, such as:
- Phone number
- Address
- Employment history
Once you get hired, your employer has a right to collect even more personal information, including but not limited to your Social Security number, salary, medical information and much more.
Thanks to data-protection laws such as the CCPA, employers in California are restricted in how they can handle employees’ and job applicants’ personal information. Under the CCPA, employers are legally required to specify what type of personal information they are collecting and the reason(s) for collecting employees’ personal data.
What Personal Information is Excluded from the CCPA?
Amendments to the CCPA exclude the following categories of personal information obtained from the application from the scope of the law:
- Personal information collected by companies about persons who are acting as employees, independent contractors, job applicants, directors, corporate officers, members of medical staff, and those who hold a majority ownership interest in the company
- Personal information treated as emergency contact information
- Personal information that is required to allow the company to administer benefits for a person who is entitled to employment benefits
The exemptions were extended by California Governor Gavin Newsom until Jan. 1, 2022.
How Can You Handle Your Personal Information Collected by Your Employer?
If your employer (or prospective employer) collected your personal information and that employer is covered under the CCPA, you can control how your information is handled. As an employee, job applicant, or independent contractor, you have a right to request your employer to:
- Tell you what personal information has been collected, disclosed, or sold
- Delete your personal information
- Provide a copy of your personal information that has been collected, disclosed, or sold
- Opt out of the sale of your personal information
Schedule a case review with our Los Angeles employment lawyer at Litigation, P.C. by calling 424-284-2401 to discuss whether or not your employer violated your privacy rights.
