Why Employers Have Protect Their Business From Malicious Acts

way to track employee whereabouts and location at all times in violation of their privacy.

Employers are discovering that employee emails and telephone uses are starting to have an impact on its business. Therefore, employers are trying to protect the company's investment, by monitoring employees email without being invasive. Employers can use, computer software, which gives the employer the ability to record how much time the employees' spend on his or, her email account, without having to read the employees email

Did you know that 58% of employers have fired workers for Internet and email misuse? And 48% justify employee video monitoring as an effort to “counter theft and violence?” According to the “2007 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey” of which 304 U.S. companies participated in, computer-monitoring results have led to the highest cause of employee termination. These companies used several tactics to eavesdrop on employees while claiming to be managing productivity or for security purposes. Some argue that surveillance is absolutely necessary to help protect and grow a business; others argue that employee and customer rights come first. However, companies that use such tactics often violate the privacy of individuals, exploit their private information and even punish those that do not conform to their standards.

Unfortunately, there is little legal recourse available to employees in terms of workplace monitoring. A 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act prohibits unauthorized interception of electronic communications, including email. However, an exemption is made for service providers, which is commonly interpreted to include employers who offer email and Internet access (Schulman). There are no federal statutes which regulate private employers on broad workplace privacy issues, but there are two federal laws that regulate specific aspects of privacy that arise during the employment relationship:

Employer’s claim they want to be sure their employees are doing a good job so there is always going to be a need for workplace monitoring. New technologies make all of this possible for employers to monitor many aspects of their employee’s jobs, especially on telephones, pc, through electronic and voice mail, and when employees use the internet. The virtual monitoring is practically unregulated and unless the organization develops specific policies stating what is allowed or not allowed your employer can listen, watch and

According to Kara Heissman “the average worker works 55 hours a week now” (Lifehack.org). It’s hard to disconnect from work even when we aren’t in the office. We now bring work home with us by our smart phones and tablets. We still receive and respond to emails,

Although there are many benefits from the monitoring and surveillance of staff in the workplace, employees may not be as inclined towards the introduction of these techniques. “Electronic monitoring has the capacity to create an adversarial environment in the organization violating employee trust and potentially producing unwanted effects and/or destructive countermeasures“(Marx and Sherizen, 1998). From various sources of research electronic monitoring has produced mixed results to link its use in the workplace to psychological illness, increased stress, feelings of powerlessness and vulnerability, turnover propensity and decreased productivity (Marx and Sherizen, 1998). It can cause damage to various parts of the organisation such as work culture, affecting trust in the workplace, employee commitment and motivation. Work culture can be affected in how employees can feel like they’re being spied on, and as a result employees will not be as productive according to the organisation. Trust in the workplace can become at stake when the monitoring of employees occurs. When employees are doing the right things online electronic surveillance will have no impact, but when employees misuse the

Due to the rapid advancement in technology especially in the security industry, there is a huge surge in the numbers of company surveillance of the employees and different ways of supervision have been established. Many companies have installed security cameras in the workplace and have access to the browsing history and emails of workers. However, there has been an uproar among the workers lately as they are more exposed to social media and news from different places. More and more cases of employers overextending their power and control of workers’ private lives can be seen all over the United States. For example, according to the president of Teamsters Local 804, Tim Sylvester, the metrics-based assault of workers is not anything strange (Bruder, 2015). Indeed, it is not beneficial to a company to install office surveillance system because it raises privacy concerns among the workers, causes mistrust between employees and employers, and reduces organizational commitment.

Technology may also be used for electronic surveillance of employees at work. Studies proved that employees spend between one and three hours a day surfing the Web on personal business at work. Since most studies depend on employee self-reported data, this productivity loss, combined with the concerns employers have for "where" their employees are surfing the Web at work, causes more employers to monitor employee use of the

Employee trackers have been a rapidly growing commodity in some of America’s most influential industries. This kind of culture already exists in the workplace and is changing how we experience even the most trivial moments of our day. The company Sociometric Solutions has developed employee tracking devices for companies like Bank of America, Steelcase, and Cubist Pharmaceuticals. Placed in employee identification badges, these sensors gather real-time data to monitor company productivity. What kind of tracking device needs bluetooth, a microphone, a motion sensor, and infrared beam capabilities? Companies are using these devices to determine the behavior of their employees- identifying a person’s tone of voice, movement, and even posture when communicating with others. Wait, let me guess, you already knew that these analytical tools determine the nature of the conversations people are having.(Giang, Vivian). Is this absolutely necessary when employees are already completing their tasks and completing them on time? Pause

Organizations typically limit non-work-related use of resources, including Internet and email communication systems. One reason is to limit wastes of work time on personal matters. Another reason is to reduce the network traffic that could slow down necessary applications. In certain environments, organizations might limit email use because it could expose proprietary information or create liability issues, such as in public organizations whose emails are discoverable through the Freedom of Information Act.

Around two-thirds of employers monitor their employees’ web site visits in order to prevent inappropriate surfing according to American Management Association (AMA). And 65% use software to block connections to web sites deemed off limits for employees. This is a 27% increase since 2001 when the survey was first conducted. Employers are motivated by concern over litigation and the increasing role that electronic evidence plays in lawsuits and government agency investigations.

Computer surveillance refers to the use of computers to track the activity of individuals at the workplace. 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.

The expansion and proliferation of technology has dawned a new era. Employers can easily monitor various side of their employee’s jobs with the help of technology especially on computers and telephones, email and voice mail, keystroke counting. Employer always keep an eye on their employee’s work. Such monitoring is almost unregulated. Therefore, unless

There are many ways an employer can use technology to monitor their employees in all aspects of their working life. This includes electronically ‘clocking in & out’ at the beginning and end of every shift, using similar technology to track the length of time each worker takes for their lunch or even toilet breaks, up to and