More than one-third of U.S. employees are electronically monitored at work, says a survey by the Privacy Foundation. Employers are increasingly checking workers' e-mail and Internet cruising, thanks to inexpensive technology that allows companies to monitor and reduce personal use of business phones and computers. Some firms report reductions of 40 to 60 percent in nonbusiness use of company telecommunications, with major cost savings. Monitoring reveals other problems with communications at work as well. Chevron settled a $2.2 million lawsuit brought by female employees over an offensive interoffice e-mail, and Dow Chemical fired more than 50 people for e-mailing pornography. "Almost every workplace lawsuit today, especially a sexual harassment case, has an e-mail component," according to Nancy Flynn, executive director of the ePolicy Institute. But privacy advocates object to intrusive monitoring and insist that at the very least employers should put up warnings about surveillance. "The practice of keeping employees uninformed about the details of monitoring may be tantamount to entrapment," says the Privacy Foundation. Hiring those you can trust and providing reasonable guidelines for personal use of company property are suggested alternatives to monitoring. Should firms monitor employee use of company telephones and Internet access?