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Legal and ethical issues of employee monitoring
Employee privacy
Employee privacy
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In today’s workforce, many companies are adapting to systems that make sure employees are staying on track. These systems are designed to record and log everything an employee does on their company computer. Common software used for employee monitoring can view emails, websites, and even all the way down to the keystrokes typed. However, employee monitoring is accompanied with rules and regulations to provide employee protection (What is employee, 2014). Sometimes employees feel that employee monitoring is crossing the line. Even though most employees prefer not to be monitored, it is necessary in the workforce. Employee monitoring is necessary in the workforce because it not only benefits the company but it can actually benefit the employee …show more content…
Our office was very small. Other than my boss, there was only one other full time employee. During the year, my boss would travel for long periods of time, sometimes even three months at a time. During this time, I would report to the full time employee on what tasks and duties I had got accomplished and she would then email our boss to notify her on my progress. However, I learned that when emailing my boss, she would actually take the credit for my work because she wasn’t completing her own work. The reason my coworker never completed her work was because she was constantly on websites that didn’t pertain to work, or even taking personal calls on the work phone. Unfortunately, there was no way I could address the issue because our office didn’t have any form of employee monitoring. If our boss had implemented some sort of system, employee monitoring would have benefited me and my boss would have been aware of the …show more content…
Monitoring can also help a company to achieve increased productivity. The company can decide for themselves how loosely or securely they apply employee monitoring and the policy that accompanies it. Not only is it for the greater good of the company, but for the greater good of the employee as well. Employee monitoring provides a line that an employee shouldn’t cross. It helps guide employees to behave in a professional and ethical
Due to the ease of misuse, many organizations find it necessary to monitor communications. This is done to ensure proper use of company assets, maintain reputation, and manage productivity. This can include email, phone, video, and the internet. In an article by The Entrepreneur Andrew Walls, security and risk officer at Stamford, suggests that the key to ethical communications monitoring is in management knowing the difference between monitoring and surveillance and that they are transparent about their actions. General monitoring of abuse with prior disclosure to employees is legal and reasonable in the workplace. What should be avoided is more intrusive and personal surveillance, without disclosure, consent, or just cause. An employer could also unintentionally discover personal information about employees, such as religion, sexual orientation, medical issues, or political views that could open the organization up to possible lawsuits over discrimination. (Richmond,
Does this sound common? This may sound common because the issue of E-mail and privacy is very common and controversial in our advanced technological world. The determination of what is ethical or unethical is not simple or straightforward. Employers and employees may have seen the ethical and legal issues associated with E-mail privacy differently. E-mail has become indispensable in the modern=day workplace, more often employers are realizing that E-mail communication systems can increase the efficiency of communications internally. Along with this increase in the use of E-mail come legal issues involving employee privacy and monitoring. The laws addressing an employer's rights to monitor E-mail traffic and employees' rights to E-mail privacy are still evolving (Lyford 28).
Managers are most frequently found by their subordinates unable to demonstrate a much cooperative stance in terms of telling them what information they need, using the HR metrics information included in existing reports, or even acknowledging receipt of the reports. These perceptions actually comprise the basic concern in organizations and their utilization of metrics and analytics as most managers view metrics and analytics as a simple regular task in a management policy to compute and report more metrics. There is obvious lack of communication and information regarding the assessment and report of HR metrics and the positive results in better organizational performance. Information systems help managers make different and better decisions which also include...
In today's work environment, workers are expected to know more than ever before. With the growing of technology comes more knowledge that end-users must know, so it is important for workers not to be distracted by unethical practices. However, with technology also comes a more defined sense of communication, which can be good or bad. This improved communication can not only encourage unethical behavior, but it can discourage it as well. This paper discusses how technology can encourage and discourage unethical behaviors, it explains how these behaviors can shape the type of work environment that a company promotes, and it identifies how Human Resources (HR) uses technology to influence culture.
Employee Monitoring: Is There Privacy in the Workplace? . (6/3/2004)
Sometimes there is no middle ground. Monitoring of employees at the workplace, either you side with the employees or you believe management owns the network and should call the shots. The purpose of this paper is to tackle whether monitoring an employee is an invasion of privacy. How new technology has made monitoring of employees by employers possible. The unfairness of computerized monitoring software used to watch employees. The employers desire to ensure that the times they are paying for to be spent in their service is indeed being spent that way. Why not to monitor employees, as well as tips on balancing privacy rights of employees at the job.
One type of surveillance is employee monitoring. Many employers monitor their workers’ activities for one reason or another. Companies monitor employees using many methods. They may use access panels that requires employees to identify themselves to control entry to various area in the building, allowing them to create a log of employee movements. They may also use software to monitor attendance and work hours. Additionally, many programs allows companies to monitor activities performed on work computers, inspect employee emails, log keystrokes, etc. An emerging methods of employee monitor also include social network and search engine monitoring. Employers can find out who their employees are associated with, as well as other potentially incriminating information. (Ciocchetti)
Any strategies which are implemented by employees should be monitored closely. A leader ensures that the progress is on the right track. In addition, He or she has to review action and give feedback to all employees so that they will know what they have to improve and keep their work on track. I have learned from the Ken case study that the project manager did not monitor progress closely thus the problem happens and causes the project’s failure to meet the client’s deadline. In addition, from the Kana case study, Vicki had to ensure that the HR management system was shut down even though it was Bryan’s responsibility so that the leak would not happen. Therefore, closely monitoring can leverage risks and
There are certain guidelines and standards that each employee should be aware of, and expected to follow. This is what is normally used to measure a person’s job performance. When not living up to these qualifications, an employee may a gentle reminder of his failure to comply. If held accountable for unacceptable behaviors, it will often turn this performance around. If not, after a certain amount of warnings, it becomes obvious that this person does not take his job very seriously, and therefore may be dismissed.
Due to all these factors managers have come up with different strategies to understand employees problems and to improve organizational behaviour by screening out the employee who does not suit the specific organizational culture, and specific job based on interest and experience instead of conventional approach. These steps are very utilitarian in ameliorating the employees over all job satisfaction, which in return lowers the absenteeism and employees turnover, thus benefiting the organisation in improving its services and products.
In Australia, Employers should implement best practice on how to maintain privacy in the workplace in accordance with the privacy standards set out in the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) (Welcome to the Fair Work Ombudsman website. n.d.). Privacy is able to keep our own personal information private and also able to do things without any electronic monitoring in the workplace. Nowadays, many company increased the usage of technology such as internet and email in the workplace. This can create issues in privacy. When employees’ access to web browsing activities during working hours, the employer can be scrutinized it. Employers take this action due to fear lawsuit if employees act in inappropriate ways. Therefore, the best policy is to explain clearly how is appropriate to use email and internet at work and outline what type of use is prohibited in the workplace. Besides that, employer also needs to ensure the employee didn’t disclose or disseminate any important information to the competitors or
In a society where job security is important one has to question why not put employees where they need be, in the places where they will be most successful, where business can benefit from a happy and energetic employee. Does the quote by Mr. Buffet make since? Being a member of the Armed Forces one would think that retention is a challenge. In my personal opinion I think it depends on the job/department, with using the lingo of the military, it depends on the AFSC (Air Force Specialty Code) in which you are assigned. I will take it one step further and state that it may depend on the branch of service and whether are not you are Active Duty, Guard, or Reserves. For example, members that may have to report to duty one weekend and
Employee rights are very important in the workplace (Rakoczy, C. n.d.). There are some laws to protect employee rights such as safe working environment, discrimination and overtime pay rate to ensure every employee treated fairly. All employees have the right to work in a safe and healthy workplace. In some industries, they use the high-voltage of electricity, extreme temperature, the high-speed and noisy machine in their workplace which can potentially threat to employee health and safety. A safety and healthy workplace must provide reasonable daily and weekly job schedule to the employees. Therefore, when the employee follows the job schedule, they can prevent to work overload because of a systematic system applied by the company.
For every technological introduction or advancement, there are consequences which come with it. This excludes not those that come with introduction of management information systems in companies. The modern society is entirely depended on information systems. Failure of these systems, today, can be declared as end of humanity. Worse enough is that there is a generational shift whereby future generations will not live without information systems that manage information. However, latest evaluations of the impact of management information systems have proven that there are chances, which are very high, of ethics being abused at the work place. Both the employees and the employers, are guarded by certain cord of ethics which aim at regulating the dignity of everybody at working place; and how far one party can be influential on the other especially on matters pertaining privacy. Profit making goals should not, by any means, overlook the importance of working ethics. This paper endeavors to explore areas of major concern where working ethics are likely to be compromised or have already been compromised at the working place due to institution of management information systems. Nevertheless, this research does not underscore the importance of these systems at the working place. The aim is to expose the negative impacts that might result from misuse of management information systems. These impacts can emanate from either party that forms part of the organization. In this case, mostly, it is either from the employee or the employer.
Every day, more and more people have adapted to using newer forms of communication and are rarely using the original forms. Thanks to the younger generation and technology advancements; communication now is mainly done on a computer, a smart phone or any other similar device such as portable notepads. These advancements can cause many people to change their livelihood, respect and social status with the click of a button or a tap on the screen. And with this power comes an even greater threat and responsibility. More and more employers are now using social websites and media as a background check for potential employees. Employers use scouting techniques as a way to spy on their employees and with these advancement developing on a regular basis, it is hard for older generations to grasp the...