Property Searches

California courts have not defined the extent of an employee’s right to privacy in the area of employer-owned property used exclusively by the employee. Existing case law appears to suggest that the privacy provision is not intended to protect employees from searches of company-owned property such as lockers, desks and vehicles. For more information on searching an employee’s computer, see Computers and Privacy.​

An employer’s search of employee property brought onto company premises more closely approaches invasion of a constitutional privacy interest. The scope of a potential privacy right in these circumstances hinges on an objective assessment of the employee’s expectation¹