Electronic Monitoring—What’s the 411?

Connecticut’s Public Act No. 26-73 has established new ground rules regarding electronic monitoring effective Oct. 1, 2026. 

Electronic monitoring laws were already in place and employers already had compliance obligations. The most recent changes can be summarized into three major items:  

1. Employers must provide written notice of the types of monitoring and the specific locations where monitoring may occur.  
2. Employers must have postings in a conspicuous space and in specific locations where monitoring is occurring.  
3. Employers must provide new employees hired after October 1, 2026 with a plain language statement in writing advising which activities are prohibited and may be monitored without giving prior written notice. 

According to Public Act No. 26-73, employers who engage “in any type of electronic monitoring shall give prior written notice to all employees who may be affected, informing them of the types of monitoring which may occur and the specific locations on the employer’s premises where such monitoring may occur.”  

Previously, employers had to provide written notice of the types of monitoring which may occur on the employer’s premises.

The change to note is that employers must now also provide written notice of the specific location on the employer’s premises where such monitoring may occur.  

Employers must now also provide written notice of the specific location where monitoring may occur.

If an employer has cameras throughout the building, they must now specify the areas where there may be monitoring.

Presumably, this would be more than just saying “there are cameras on the premises” as the law states that you must now provide specific locations such as the front office, the break room, the CEO’s office, the entry corridor, the parking lot, etc. 

This is a great opportunity to revise your electronic monitoring posters, your electronic monitoring policy and your employee handbook if such policy is included within the contents of your handbook. 

Posting Requirements

Also expanded upon by the law, “employer[s] shall post, in a conspicuous place which is readily available for viewing by its employees, including, but not limited to, in the specific location on the employer’s premises where such monitoring may occur, a notice concerning the types of electronic monitoring which the employer may engage in and the specific locations on the employer’s premises where such monitoring may occur. Such posting shall constitute such prior written notice.” 

Prior to this expansion, if you had an electronic monitoring policy in a conspicuous space, such as a common area where labor posters are typically posted, that was sufficient.

However, that no longer suffices.  

If your common areas have camera surveillance, then there should be a posting in each location.

Employers must now place postings in specific locations.

For example, if your common areas have camera surveillance, then there should be a posting in each common area location that states that electronic surveillance may be occurring.

I like to think of this specific location postings mandate as Connecticut law’s newest version of a bright yellow “smile, you’re on camera!” sticker.  

Plain Language Statement 

The law also notes that “each employer who engages in any type of electronic monitoring shall also provide each employee hired on or after Oct. 1, 2026, with a plain language statement in writing advising which activities are prohibited and may be monitored without giving prior written notice, as described in subdivision (2) of this subsection, prior to the employee commencing employment.”  

Subsection 2 goes on to allow that “(2) When (A) an employer has reasonable grounds to believe that employees are engaged in conduct which (i) violates the law, (ii) violates the legal rights of the employer or the employer’s employees, or (iii) creates a hostile workplace environment, and (B) electronic monitoring may produce evidence of this misconduct, the employer may conduct monitoring without giving prior written notice.” 

This only applies to new employees, hired on or after Oct. 1, which is important to note.

This change is straightforward—or as the law states “plain” and simple.

Employers should draft a plain language notice, and I would suggest using the text of the law itself as included above.  

Exceptions 

A carve out included in the law is that “when an employer has reasonable grounds to believe that employees are engaged in conduct which (i) violates the law, (ii) violates the legal rights of the employer or the employer’s employees, or (iii) creates a hostile workplace environment, and (B) electronic monitoring may produce evidence of this misconduct, the employer may conduct monitoring without giving prior written notice.” 

The law also stipulates that “the provisions of this subsection requiring an employer to disclose the specific location of the employer’s premises where electronic monitoring may occur shall not apply (A) if such premises are an airport, or (B) when an employer has reasonable grounds to conduct such monitoring for security and employee safety purposes.  

If you are an airport, then the exclusion is clear.

Employers should not just claim that the monitoring is for security and employee safety purposes.

However, all other employers should tread carefully.

Employers should not just claim that the monitoring is for security and employee safety purposes if that is not the sole reason for the monitoring to avoid providing notice to all employees.

The safest approach is to provide notice even if the reason for the monitoring is safety and security, as it is better to be safe than sorry.  

---

For more information, contact CBIA’s Delmarina López (860.244.1982).