Employment Laws of USA

Employment rights –Employee use of lie detector in USA


The cornerstone that protects the employee and limits the employer is the Employee Polygraph Protection Act. This act states that the polygraph test can be used only by Federal, State and local government employers. Private employers can use the test only if their business is security or they are authorized to manufacture, distribute or dispense controlled substances.

The employer cannot even suggest that the employee (prospective employee) takes a polygraph test without a serious reason. The Act defines the following reasons - theft, embezzlement, misappropriation, or an act of unlawful industrial espionage or sabotage. In general it can be grouped as investigations involving economic loss or injury to the employer’s business. If one of the situations has occurred and the employee is one of the suspects, then the employer needs to do few things before requesting the test. First of all he needs to be sure that the employee had access to the property that is the subject of the investigation or he is related to the occurred accident. The employer also must inform the suspected employee about the test, employees’ rights and provide a document, which has a basis for requesting the examination. The document must be signed by an authorized representative of the company.

The Act allows the employee to terminate the test anytime. The person who is providing the test must be a qualified and licensed polygraph examiner who is bonded or carries sufficient liability insurance. The results of the test have a limited disclosure. The employee can’t be asked about his personal life, political or religious beliefs and legal activities involving unions or labor organizations. If any of the employees’ rights were violated during the test, he can sue the employer for the violation of the Act.

So basically we see that an employee is full protected from the evil machine called lie detector. But if we look at it more seriously the employee seems to be a bit overprotected. A lie detector is helping to determine only if the employee is lying to certain questions, not his personal life or some hidden secrets. Basically if and employee has made a mistake or committed fraud and he wants to cover himself in court with lawyer, there is no way to make a lie detector test simple. He can terminate the test and the case will go up to the court where the prosecution will demand such a test. The protection of the employee can turn a simple procedure into a few months of courts. But if we take a deeper look into history of the working class in general we will see decades of lawyers on employees’ behalf fighting for the rights of the working people. So this small overprotection today is a direct result from the greediness and cruelty of the first employers.