Employee Monitoring

Employee monitoring software has become commonplace. Many apps take monitor screenshots, capture keystrokes and mouse movements, monitor active applications and visited sites and, in extreme cases, can even take pictures using webcam. It seems to be fair to track what your employees do when they are being paid for their time. After all, if they exchange their time for money, it seems fair for the employer to know what they are paying for. So, why does it still feel morally inappropriate in some cases? The question is far from being just theoretical. If a wrong decision is made, a company may suffer from lawsuits, experience a backlash and overall productivity drop (opposite from what was intended) from their employees or suffer damage to the company’s image. Let’s review in more detail what employee monitoring practices can be considered valid and what should be avoided.   Silent vs Transparent employee monitoring Silent employee monitoring is when information from employee’s computer is shared with company management without the user knowing it’s being shared. Transparent employee monitoring is when an employee has access to all his monitoring data. Silent monitoring without consent Silent monitoring without consent is a simple case in which it is easy to distinguish between right and wrong. It...