According to a survey, nearly two-thirds of people in the United States and over 2 billion people worldwide own smartphones. For some smartphone users, their phones are their only avenue of access to the Internet.
Alongside the rapid spread of mobile devices is the increase in the number of people using online dating websites. Current studies show that 22 percent of to year olds use online dating sites and apps. It stands to reason that at least some employees are using their personal smartphones or company-provided devices smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc. This situation presents myriad concerns for employers, from the risk of data loss to privacy issues to the possibility of harassment liability.
Worse yet, a supervisor using such a dating app may come across the matched profile of a subordinate employee. The situation is freighted with sexual harassment risk. What is a love-wary employer to do?
Here are three considerations that employers should keep in mind and the potential sexual harassment issues that could arise in this new age of the mobile dating workforce. Monitoring Company-Provided Smartphones. In addition, to ward off potential sexual harassment issues, employers will probably want to ensure their mobile device policies prohibit or restrict employees from downloading apps that are not business related.
Employers must also consider the risks involved when employees use their company-provided devices before or after working hours and outside of the workplace. Employers should educate their employees on these policies, make their expectations explicit, and, importantly, make sure that employees are aware of whether and to what extent the employer is monitoring the device. Employers with bring-your-own-device BYOD programs face a number of issues. BYOD programs allow employees to use their own mobile devices for work-related purposesβfor example, to stay connected to, access data from, or complete tasks for their employers.
