Change in original agreement

[TAJ]

I travel 35 miles each way to work, I had an accident in a company car and they promptly removed the car. I now have no way to get to work as I don't have a car myself and am not in position to buy one. If I quit for this reason can I collect unemployment insurance bebefits untill I get another job.Also there are some leagelly questioable practices going on here that make me uncomfortable. Please any advise would be appreciated.

[cbg]

Only an adjudicator in your state can say whether or not this would be a qualifying reason to quit and get benefits, but I would tend to doubt it. Usually you have to have been treated illegally by the employer before you can quit and receive UI.

You have not provided enough information about the other part of your question for us to comment.

[TAJ]

Regarding the other part There are some obvious compliance and customer privacy issues going on.

[cbg]

You are still not giving us anywhere near enough information to determine whether any laws are being broken and if so, what if any recourse you have.

[nytaj]

If a risk to you concerning privacy issues and fines etc. I would think you would be able to leave and receive benefits. Only the state could tell you that.

[TAJ]

There is sensitive customer information in an office that has no wall or door and no way to lock it up. Refer to the Graham-leech Blily act. This has been brought to the superior's attention by myself and others inclucing financil institution reps.

[cbg]

I give up.

[TAJ]

You must safeguard customer information and they don't have the tools in place to do that (personal info ie ss# and financial info.)

[kj]

I understand the issues with the privacy laws that have been in effect as well as several companies paying fines for not safegaurding customer information like ss#'s

[TAJ]

Here is a more straightforward question. Does an auto dealer finance dept have to have a private and seperate office, can it be in the showroom, and can a customers info be shared with employees that are not involved in the deal? If not then what can you do to get out of that situation. is it grounds to leave the job and collect.
If you are going to be sanctioned for noncompliance along with the dealer is that grounds for leaving?

[JCM]

Originally Posted by kj

I understand the issues with the privacy laws that have been in effect as well as several companies paying fines for not safegaurding customer information like ss#'s

If the employer puts an employee at risk of fines or jail because he/she does nothing to insure customers privacy, is this a good enough reason to quit and recieve benefits such as unemployment in New York state?

[TAJ]

If the employer puts an employee at risk of fines or jail because he/she does nothing to insure customers privacy, is this a good enough reason to quit and recieve benefits such as unemployment in New York state?

JCM are you sure about this?

[cbg]

Does an auto dealer finance dept have to have a private and seperate office,

No.

can it be in the showroom,

Yes.

can a customers info be shared with employees that are not involved in the deal?

I'm not aware of any law that says otherwise. It may not be good business practice but it is not illegal. A lot would depend on what you mean by "shared".

is it grounds to leave the job and collect.

No.

If you are going to be sanctioned for noncompliance along with the dealer is that grounds for leaving?

For leaving, possibly. To collect UI? I seriously doubt it.

[nytaj]

cbg are the answers you gave fact or opinion? if fact where is that info found and how can it be seen? I would like to be able to see it in writing

[cbg]

Some of each. Obviously, since I am not an adjudicator for the OP's state, whether he will or will not get unemployment is opinion. I also indicated in one response that I AM NOT AWARE of a law such as the poster suggests. That doesn't mean that one does not exist, but if it does, I've never heard of it.

The law says what an employer is required to do and what an employer is prohibited from doing. It does not specify what an employer MAY do. So you won't find a law saying, The employer doesn't have to have a private office, for example. Either there will be one saying that the employer MUST have one, or their right not to have one is assumed.

[nytaj]

if a customers personal info is to be kept private wouldn't it make sense that an office seperate from the showroom would be needed to keep that privacy.an office in the showroom would allow a casual passerby in the showroom access to that info even if the finance officer was there working on the deal, due to the fact it would be right out in the open. i would think that privacy laws would supercede any assumption that an office could be an area in the showroom

[TAJ]

If an F&I manager is to leave his office un attended he is supposed to lock the door even for a short time.

[JCM]

Any other opinions on this would really help.

[cbg]

The poster didn't ask me what would make sense and he didn't ask me what I thought the company ought to do. He asked me what the law said. And as I told him, if there is any law that says an auto dealer MUST have a private office, I am not aware of it.

I've been wrong before and I no doubt will be wrong again. If you want to show me a law that specifies that there MUST be a private office, fine. As I said above, I'm not insisting that there isn't one. But until someone can show me that law, I'll continue to maintain that an employer MAY have an area in the showroom since no law specifies otherwise. That doesn't mean I'm saying it makes sense; it doesn't mean I think it's a good business practice; it doesn't mean I approve of the way the dealer maintains his business. It means that in the absence of a law that says otherwise, it is legal.

I still maintain that it is very unlikely that the poster would receive UI benefits if he quit because of this.

[TAJ]

Look under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB) and the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Regulation P (Privacy Rule)

[cbg]

Maybe another day.

I don't mean this to sound harsh, but this is your concern, not mine, and I do not have time to go wading through these things to find evidence to support your claim. If you want to go through them yourself and post links to the pages you think are applicable, I'll look at them and if my opinion changes, I'll say so. But I have no dog in this hunt - it's not up to me to do the research.