The emergence of new technologies in software engineering and computer science has led to the development of effective technologies that help to increase the productivity in businesses. Employees are an asset for a company and their maximum efforts translate into benefits for the company. Thanks to latest technology, companies today can keep a check on employees and measure their productivity using electronic monitoring.
Like every technology, its introduction has both negative as well as positive impact. Introduction of computer followed by internet in workplace, although increased productivity by manifolds, it also caused the advent of gaming, malicious spamming and useless internet surfing while at work. Thus while accepting and implementing a technology, an open minded approach is required. To decrease the unproductiveness, many solutions have been implemented throughout companies, ensuring employees productivity goes higher, and no time is spent on activities other than that related to work. The latest in this field is electronic monitoring. Monitoring tools restrict the use of internet and also monitor the email and telephone communication of the employee. Even though this is a good business idea, its proper usage and implementation is important, as its misuse or over use may result in legal claims.
There is a growing trend to use electronic monitoring systems in large corporations in order to ensure maximum productivity. In contrast to telephonic monitoring, computerized monitoring is more effective considering higher misuse of internet in workplace. Apart from monitoring, electronic monitoring also enables employer to measure the employee output such as key stroke count, building customer base over the phone or email etc. Such monitoring enables firms to identify good employees and ultimately reward them with incentives and benefits.
Even though a very powerful tool, it is important to not over use this system as it can be discomforting and invasive for the employee. In case the employee finds it invasive, he may seek legal claim as there are many state and federal laws laid that restrict the over use of electronic monitoring and thus safeguard the privacy of the employee. There are some rules and regulations governing the use of electronic monitoring which need to be met before implementing its use. One of the most important being, consent by the employee. Only if the employee has agreed to monitoring can electronic monitoring is carried out; usually a written agreement qualifies as consent. But a ‘business extension’ exception is granted by the law under which an employer is granted the permission to monitor telephone and email conversation of the employee, but under certain limitations. Thus an employer may tap the phones of its employees even without consent until it is for normal business purpose and uses equipments that are allowed by law for this purpose. Legitimate business reasons are important to record personal calls and monitor emails of employees without their consent. This holds true according to the kind of business the company deals in.
Apart from the law, there are many ethical issues surrounding the use of electronic monitoring in order to track productivity. Every human has his own private space, and when he enters into a workplace, he does not give up his privacy completely. Therefore it is important to keep in mind the rights of the employee before implementing electronic monitoring systems. It is important to realize that employees are not mere assets, but a living being who have a private life and whose sentiments maybe hurt when their output is misused, hence companies need to understand the ethical issues intertwined in the use of monitoring systems.
While the major worry of company manager remains the misuse of company resources for personal gain, the employee on the other hand is skeptical of his privacy rights. Thus a neutral ground must be established that satisfies both, the employer as well as the employee. Employers must inform the monitoring policies to its employees before its implementation. This will enable the employees to be mentally prepared regarding monitoring and avoid the misuse of company resources. An orientation regarding the ethics and ethical use of resources can be beneficial as it would give a proper understanding to employees regarding the rules of the company. Even if the company logs the data and calls, it should not be monitored throughout, but instead scrutinize it only when needed or when considering an employee appraisal. Employers should also refrain from intercepting personal emails and calls as that would infringe the privacy of the employee, instead company can inform the employee before intercepting the data in order to keep the employee aware and avoid legal issues. Similarly employees should be oriented regarding the use of company computers and internet services and prohibit downloading data that does not concern the functioning of the company. Internet traffic can be monitored by the employer for the purpose. Employers must formulate a Business Code of Conducts and make the employees well aware of the clauses which will help to avoid future legal issues. Small but conclusive steps can help the company overcome ethical as well as legal issues surrounding the implementation and use of electronic monitoring.
References:
1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. June 2002. Distributive Justice. Retrieved March 10, 2003 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/justice-distributive/
2. Walsh, M. (2002). Education Week: Court Mulls Who Can Sue Under Privacy Law. Vol. 21, Issue 33, p. 22. Retrieved June 26, 2002 from EBSCOhost website.
3. Schulman, A. 2002. Software Litigation Consultant web site. Retrieved September 23, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.sonic.net/~undoc/extent.htm#Surveillance%20vs.%20Spot
