Why Employers Have Protect Their Business From Malicious Acts

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,

The most common form of an invasion, to employee privacy rights is email. With the massive use of computers, email has become the biggest communication tool of choice in the workplace. The concern of employers has grown tremendously with the use of email in the workplace. Employers' concern is that, employees can waste time by sending and receiving email for personal use, and they may provide easy access for hackers to entry their computer system. Employers can monitor an employee computer activity to ensure productivity in the workplace. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (2006) states, "Unfortunately, if an employee uses a company computer for email use, the employee employer has the right to review the contents of his or her email."

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:

Some of the advantages of employee monitoring are that email use can be limited, viruses can be prevented from corrupting company computer systems, inappropriate acts and uses of language can be intercepted before any harm is done, and companies can stop leaks of proprietary information. Some of the disadvantages of employee monitoring are, as stated earlier, an employees’ feeling of lack of trust, a feeling of no privacy at work, and the possibility of employers being sued by employees for fear that their privacy has been violated.

Many employees are unaware that their employers can monitor what they do online and fire or discipline them based on the information. According to a recent report by the American Management Association, more than a quarter of employers have fired workers for misusing e-mail, and about a third have fired workers for misusing the Internet (Snell & Bohlander,

It is argued by some that installing surveillance system in the workplace is advantageous to the company because the companies need to protect their company assets and trade secrets. This is because electronic surveillance prevents any intrusion, hacking or negative attempts to their computer systems. Indeed, Ball (2010) contends that “they want to protect corporate interests and trade secrets. Email, Internet monitoring and information access control are all deployed against risks of defamation,

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.

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

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.

email, websites etc. Employers at the same time strive to make their employees focus on work,

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

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

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

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

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.