THE EMPLOYEE'S RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND FREEDOM OF MANAGEMENT

CONTROL OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

Abstract

The central theme of this article is the control of electronic communications by the employer in the work environment. The objective of the work is to perform a critical-reflexive analysis of the protection regime of the employee's right to privacy, in confrontation with the right to free enterprise management. The methodology applied was descriptive and explanatory, through the collection of data in doctrine, legislation and jurisprudence. With the investigation, it was verified that the criteria of transparency, finality, and proportionality must be guiding factors in the control of messages by the employer, in order to make compatible the fundamental right of the worker's personality to the privacy of private life and the employer's directive power, by means of the ponderation of interests. We conclude that, despite the new forms of corporate control brought about by information technology, the Portuguese legal system and, in particular, jurisprudence have taken steps to adequately protect the confidentiality of the employee's electronic messages.