I work in California as the head of security and loss prevention. We have surveillance cameras in our retail stores, both in the main part of the store, and the employees-only area. The camera system we own is also capable of recording audio, but we haven't activated that part of the system. I wanted to know if it was legal to record audio of conversations that happen at the sales counter? I want the audio in order to have evidence for or against our employees in situations where discounts are given, fraudulent credit card transactions take place, etc. I do not want to record audio of the employee-only areas. Is this legal? What kinds of problems can I run into?

You must notify all of your employees of your intent to utilize surveilliance equipment. It is recommended that you retain proof of that notification. For example, you can prepare a policy that discusses the surveillance, the business reasons for its use and your policy not to record conversations in employee only locations. Then, have each employee sign the pollicy, acknowledging their understanding of the policy.

Then, be aware that the surveillance is utilized for business reasons. If you accidentally record a private conversation not related to work, you must do your best to not listen to the conversation and, if possible, make sure that it is deleted.

By the way, it is okay to record in employee only areas, so long as the employees understand that you are doing so and that it is for business reasons. You should avoid utilizing surveillance equipment in places where a person would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a restroom or locker room.

Also, if you are planning to notify employees of the use of surveillance equipment, you may also wish to add a statement that there is no right to privacy when using the company's equipment, such as a computer being used for e-mail or conversations on the telephone. You may also wish to say that there is no personal use of that equipment, so that you don't accidentally eavesdrop on personal conversations.

I found some interesting information regarding employee privacy at the following website: http://www.privacyrights.org/

Let me know if you have any other questions.

You need to place placards up in the store and in the employee areas to notify customers and employees that they are being monitored by audio-visual means. I also recommend notifying employees of the policy to use audio-video tape in both the public store and employee only areas during orientation, in the employee policy book and by placard. You need to disclose this in postings that can be seen by anyone. If you consistently do this, you should have no problems.