Using Computing Technology For Employee Performance And Behavior Is Just Plain Wrong

As human beings and citizens of the world, everyone values their privacy. It is a right that is often looked over and taken for granted by most. Since the beginning of time, there have been concerns about individuals’ rights to privacy and their personal information remaining confidential. Our founding fathers had concerns about this which is why, “…this right has developed into

Electronic monitoring has seen a tremendous growth in the workplace, in the past 10 years. The National Work Rights Institute

As a growing topic of discussion, privacy in our society has stirred quite some concern. With the increase of technology and social networking our standards for privacy have been altered and the boundary between privacy and government has been blurred. In the article, Visible Man: Ethics in a World Without Secrets, Peter Singer addresses the different aspects of privacy that are being affected through the use of technology. The role of privacy in a democratic society is a tricky endeavor, however, each individual has a right to privacy. In our society, surveillance undermines privacy and without privacy there can be no democracy.

According to the CIPD's absence report in 2011, one employee in five admits to absence that has not been caused by "genuine" ill health. To me that is saying that most of the time when people call in to work or do not show up that they are not actually sick. There are lot of people suffering from depression and illnesses that are similar to that and may not feel like they can be around people. People that are suffering from this problem also feel like there is no one

Sick days allow the employees to have a mental health day where they can relax and have a designated day where they don’t have to think about work in any way. With “over 1 million Australians suffering from depression” (Beyond Blue). A mental health day can be highly beneficial to both the employee and the business owner. If an employee is an unsteady state of mind or they are mentally unfit to be at work, a bludge day off have positive effects for both parties. Many businesses are in favour of paid sick days, “Paid sick leave laws? No problem, say small-Business owners” (Associated Press, 2014). Sick days allow for more productive and efficient work to be completed, those who may not be working to their full potential are temporally replaced with someone who feels 100 per cent. “I would rather have someone stay home if they are sick, rather than mope around the work shop” (Williams, 2015). A business is safer sending someone home who is ill compared to forcing that person to stay and work, if an employee hurt themselves or someone else due to their illness the business could face sever law suits. When the business sends the employee home they have reduced the risk of personal injury resulting in law

The Telecommunications Act allows employers to monitor employees communications while they are using a computer systems or any form of communication over the internet while they are at work on the employer's network. For example companies are allowed to intercept and read their employees emails and record there phone calls made on a work phone. Employees must be aware that any form of communication sent from the office could be intercepted and read so it is normally included in their contracts of employment.

As more and more advancements are made in the wide world of technology, workplace surveillance seems like a logical step. However as with anything, there are pros and cons which should be considered. I think finding a balance that best serves the interests of success for businesses using it and the productivity of employees without creating an oppressive workplace is very important.

What kind of privacy do Engineers and Scientists have in the workplace? One might be surprised, that the basic rights we take for granted are not protected in the workplace. Employers have a legitimate interest in monitoring their employees to assure security, efficiency and productivity, however, sometimes employee monitoring goes well beyond legitimate concerns and becomes simply an invasion of privacy. The debate of employee monitoring continues on; whether it is legal, moral, or ethical. Corporations believe it is necessary to maintain security, limit their liability and to discourage dishonest activity, while employees experience a negative effect of emotional and physical stress, and lack of trust and motivation.

Privacy either encourages or is a necessary factor of human securities and fundamental value such as human embarrassment, independence, distinctiveness, freedom, and public affection. Being completely subject to mutual scrutiny will begin to lose self-respect, independence, distinctiveness, and freedom as a result of the sometimes strong burden to conform to public outlooks.

Workplace surveillance has become a controversial issue in the workplace environment. The technological surveillance has developed as a necessity, it doesn’t only help in monitoring what the workers’ do, but it also helps to know how they do it. The modern technological development may have helped the employers’ to have an aerial view of the workplace environment, but it has created a controversy between the employees’ and the employer about the employees’ right to privacy being violated. The employees’ believe the act of workplace surveillance to be hateful that violates their right to privacy and liberties. The surveillance at the workplace often effects workers mental health, productivity, future success in their work and their relationship with the employer, despite being a necessity for the employers’ to protect themselves against the liability, many employers’ in the process of achieving efficiency through surveillance mistakenly ruin their relationship with their employees. The workplace surveillance is helpful in improving the performance of workers or it is contributing towards degrading the performance of workers and their work relationships.

It is a common practice especially in industries that have a large number of employees whom they cannot monitor in person. The research will examine computer monitoring as one of the methods which the management uses to monitor employee activity at the workplace. The researcher will examine the advantages of computer monitoring at the workplace in detail in relation to the legal realm, public perception and criticism. Firms store most of their data in the computer database. In fact, many companies rely on computer networks to communicate with its employees, stakeholders and clients.

Alder, G. (2001) is a study conducted on electronic performance monitoring using prior research. (Alder, 2001) It suggests that the influence of EPM is strongly based on organizational culture. Organizations use EPM to increase productivity, improve quality and service, reduce costs, avoid legal liability and negative publicity, and guard against security breaches. Critics argue that EPM invades consumer and employee privacy, decreases job satisfaction, increases stress and health issues, diminishes trust, and develops negative work relationships. (Greengard, 1996) (Lewis, 1999, May) (Piturro, 1989)

The use of a timeclock to monitor only select employees negatively impacts the workplace, as it creates an environment that lacks trust and causes morale to plummet. Even so, many good-intentioned managers implement timeclocks as a way to manage some, or all employees, believing this will be a way to keep employees honest as well as become a money-saving endeavor. What they fail to realize is that it can actually cost the company in several ways; it may lead to financial loss for the company in unearned wages and can be the cause of losing quality employees.

Technology is being substantially developed in the past decades. The law always had difficulty keeping pace with new issues and technology and the few laws that has been passed are usually very general and vague. The main theme of this paper is to point out the effect of technology on privacy in the workplace. We must comprehend privacy before trying to protect it. Based on the book of Ethical Gift of Fire, privacy has three pieces: freedom from intrusion, control of information about one's self, and freedom from surveillance

Today's offices look very different from those in the late 1970s. Then typewriters, filing cabinets, and correction fluid were the norm. Today these items have been replaced by desktop and portable computers, database management systems, and word processing software. You are already familiar with some of the benefits of using computers in the workplace—for example, computers make it easier to manage the company database, accounting, and finance-related activities, and communications among different departments in a company—but what are some of the ethical issues that have arisen as a result of using computers in the workplace?