Term paper on Electronic Monitoring In The Workplace
Electronic Monitoring In The Workplace Essays
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With the advent of the Information Age, a problem has developed between employers and employees over the use of electronic monitoring in the workplace. Electronic monitoring is monitoring employees' e-mail, computer files, voice mail, telephone use, as well as the use of video and audio surveillance, computer network monitoring, and keystroke monitoring. To employers, the use of electronic monitoring is a very effective management tool to manage employees activities. Employers feel that electronic monitoring offers a shield of corporate security, a means of achieving good performance, and is a necessity for global competitiveness.
On the other hand, many workers frown upon this level of monitoring. Is eyeing an employee's every move, including in the locker rooms and in the restrooms via video camera, necessary? Is the risk of causing health problems to workers for the sake of meeting numerical figures even considered? Is rating a worker's job performance based on production alone an accurate means of assessing a worker's performance? How about the quality of a worker's performance, isn't it important as well?
For the most part, courts favor the employers on the issue of electronic monitoring. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (1996) "laws to protect employees require only that employees be treated equally. Employers are, therefore, free to do whatever they wish to their employees as long as they do so in a non-discriminatory manner (p.1). Employees have limited rights concerning electronic monitoring. Union contracts, for example, may limit the employer s right to monitor. Also, public sector employees may have some minimal rights under the U.S. Constitution, in particular the Fourth Amendment which safeguards against unreasonable search and seizure (Center for Public Interest Law, 1994, p.6). The courts seem to weigh the reasonableness of an employee's expectation to privacy against the legitimate business interests of the employer.
Corporate security is a concern of many employers. Corporate spying and theft can seriously put a corporation at risk. "A business victimized by corporate spying will find itself at a strong competitive and strategic disadvantage" (Cozic, 1994, 64). To employers, monitoring e-mail and computer networks are necessary. "Computers offer ready points for entry for spies, thieves, disgruntled employees, sociopaths, and bored teens. Once they're in a company's network, they can steal trade secrets, destroy data, sabotage operations, even subvert a particular deal or career" (Behar, 1997, 2). With the possibility of confidential information being retrieved via the computer network or a corporate spy in the corporation sending confidential information by e-mail to a competitor, electronic computer network monitoring is one shield that may offer employers some protection.
In addition, employee theft is a reality in many businesses that can drive up business costs. From the employers point of view, video surveillance monitoring throughout the business facility can help deter much of this theft. Video surveillance would allow a employer to see an employee s every move inside the facility. If employees are aware of this kind of video surveillance, they would be less inclined to steal or at least be very precautious about stealing.
According to the ACLU (1996) "employers have the right to expect an honest day's work for a day's pay. They have a right to set performance standards and expect those standards to be met (p. 3)." The use of Computer Aided Manufacturing is one means of electronic monitoring that enables employers to visually see the performance of their employees, their advanced equipment, and their manufacturing processes. The use of CAM allows managers to monitor vital areas of the manufacturing processes for necessary improvements. With this method of monitoring, managers are able to evaluate whether an employee needs training or whether an employee is fit for the job they were hired to do.
In today s increased global competition, employers of U.S. companies are concerned about bottom line profits and what needs to be done to be competitive with companies of other nations. Employers regard the monitoring method of Computer Aided Manufacturing as a necessary tool to compete globally. It enables employers to manufacture more efficiently by driving costs down and moving quality levels upward. According to Cozic (1994), "if U.S. factories are discouraged from moving forward with C.A.M., then American workers will be the ultimate losers as domestic factories won't be modernized even as overseas factories become increasingly efficient (p. 66)." With the world becoming more of a global economy, employers want to be well positioned to compete.
On the flip side of this coin, employees have serious concerns also. By pushing employees to meet higher standards through the use of electronic monitoring, their physical health and mental state can suffers. According to the Center for Public Interest Law (1994) "People involved in intensive word processing and data entry jobs may be subject to keystroke monitoring. This system tells the manager how many keystrokes per hour each employee is performing. It also may inform employees if they are above or below the standard number of keystrokes expected. Consequently, keystroke monitoring is now linked to health problems including stress disabilities and physical problems like carpal tunnel syndrome (p. 6). This ailment is a result of repetitive motions of the hands. It is because the human body has a certain tolerance for repetitive and continuous motions that employees believe the use of electronic monitoring to push higher standards should have limits.
Also, as far as mental health is concerned, "Maxine, a customer service representative who quit her job as a result of a serious stress-related illness, described her feelings and those of dozens of hotline callers this way: Monitoring makes you feel like less than a child, less than a human being" (Cozic, 1994, 57). When an employee is stressed mentally by monitoring, undesired working conditions may be created. Paced work, reduced task variety, reduced...
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