Balancing Employee Monitoring with Digital Privacy: Navigating the Boundaries

​Businesses various strategies to enhance productivity, such as employing eliminating distractions and automating processes. Additionally, employers utilize surveillance and tracking software to optimize operations.

Employee monitoring technologies especially have increased prominence recently, with the streamlined use of surveillance platforms due to rapid digital technology growth. Nonetheless, upholding workplace privacy remains a paramount concern.

Before implementing employee monitoring technology, it is crucial to comprehend the impact of federal and state laws and to effectively deploy these tools for your business. Certain boundaries of digital privacy and workplace privacy should not be violated. 

The key is legal compliance and in this article, we'll look at some of the legal and ethical considerations.

The Dynamics of Employee Monitoring

In a recent case study conducted by VMware, it was revealed that approximately 70 percent of global business decision-makers have either implemented or are in the process of implementing employee monitoring systems on the devices of remote employees. 

The primary motivation behind this initiative is to efficiently manage workflows and safeguard sensitive data. 

However, it's crucial to delve deeper into the implications of such monitoring systems, as they can have both positive and negative effects on the workplace.

We will go on to explore the key findings from the VMware case study and shed light on the potential advantages and drawbacks of employee monitoring in today's digital age. 

We'll discuss the significance of striking a balance between oversight and respecting employees' privacy rights while achieving business objectives. Join us on this journey to better understand the evolving landscape of employee monitoring and its impact on modern workplaces.

Respecting Digital Privacy in a Connected World

Respect for privacy rights and transparency are not the same thing. 

The employer has the right to location tracking, but only during business hours. In the pursuit of productivity enhancement, it's easy to cross the line and violate personal boundaries. Simply deriving data protection and surveillance should not be the only priority for companies. 

Also, when implementing any tracking measures, consent and notification should be considered. 

Balancing Legal and Ethical Considerations​

Continuous monitoring of employees, although legal, often leads to a sense of distrust among employees. And recent research from Harvard Business Review suggests that employees feel less accountable for their actions when they know they are being monitored. 

This can result in a decrease in following instructions and an increase in unapproved breaks.

The intrusive nature of monitoring policies can create a feeling of invasion of privacy among employees and undermine the company's commitment to ethical behavior. 

There is something else, besides technological safeguards of safety and tracking employees at every step - these are trust and morale principles. 

So, it can have a detrimental impact on employee turnover, productivity, and overall job satisfaction. 

Crafting Effective Monitoring Policies

 To effectively counteract the negative consequences of employee monitoring, it is crucial to ensure employee awareness. Here are some tips to consider:

• Install visible signage regarding surveillance: Depending on the laws in your state, displaying noticeable signs that indicate the presence of security cameras on the premises may suffice to meet legal and ethical standards. The mere knowledge of surveillance often serves as a deterrent for internal employee theft.
• Be transparent about employee monitoring: Transparency should always be upheld as a best practice. For the workplace culture to be at its best, proportionality in monitoring to be observed and the proper level of employee education to be achieved, you need to carry out explanatory work. Establish well-known privacy boundaries, tell us about the future trends that you want to implement, and why you are introducing ethical monitoring. A study by Profusion revealed that 61 percent of employees are comfortable with monitoring when it is used to promote fairness and transparency.
• Foster open communication about employee monitoring: Employers can build trust by fostering open and honest communication with their employees. All monitoring policies and procedures should be communicated to new hires, and any changes should be communicated to existing employees. Additionally, employees should have access to the data that employers collect about them and the ability to contest any interpretations of the data.
• Track only essential information: GPS tracking is often used as a form of employee monitoring, particularly in fleet tracking and telematics for company vehicles. With most fleet software, managers can track the location of a company vehicle even if the employee is off duty. Business owners have the right to know the whereabouts of their property. However, GPS tracking of company devices like laptops and phones is a more sensitive area, as employers may gather more information than necessary about employees' activities outside of work hours.
• Carefully choose employee monitoring methods: In emerging technologies, organizations will have new opportunities to track and monitor employees. In such cases, business leaders must listen to employees and review legal guidelines for employee monitoring.

Fostering a Culture of Privacy

 Finding a balance between legitimate business interests and employee privacy expectations while considering regulatory limitations is crucial, as these may vary from state to state and country to country. 

Joseph Lazzarotti, a principal with Jackson Lewis who leads the law firm's Privacy practice, says so.If your company uses privacy-conscious practices, your employees won't need to use a VPN. 

If you cross the line set by global privacy standards, then your employees will start looking for workarounds. For example, using a VPN for Safari https://veepn.com/blog/vpn-for-safari/ will prevent your firewall from tracking their activities. 

However, by and large, a VPN is beneficial because it provides data encryption.

The Path Forward: Employee Monitoring Trends and Privacy​

Employee monitoring techniques encompass various tools. 

Monitoring methods include:

• Employee monitoring software: Managers can utilize high-quality software to track and analyze employee work activities. This may involve monitoring browser and application usage, capturing screenshots of user activity, and logging keystrokes.
• Time and attendance software: By implementing reliable time and attendance software, businesses can keep an accurate record of employees' work hours and paid time off. These records are valuable for calculating payments and can serve as evidence in case of any disputes. Additionally, digital systems provide insights into employee start and end times, aiding in productivity evaluation.
• Video surveillance: Video surveillance systems enhance both security and productivity within a business. The ability to capture theft incidents on camera helps reduce shrinkage costs.
• GPS systems: For teams that involve driving, businesses can install top-notch GPS fleet management systems to monitor driver safety, fuel efficiency, and accountability.
• Biometric technology: Biometric time and attendance systems utilize fingerprint, facial, palm, or iris scans to record work hours. However, it's important to adhere to biometric system laws regarding the collection, storage, and usage of biometric information.

Wrapping up

The employee tracking issue has regulatory frameworks, but that's not the only thing you should be looking at. Your company should implement fair disciplinary actions and ensure transparency and awareness of employees. 

Only a balanced approach will help improve performance and not undermine the trust of employees.