Ways in which ethics can be monitored

According to a study from September cyberloafing is a massive problem with employees spending up to 2 hours a day using their work computers for personal surfing. During this time it would be reasonable to assume that employees are spending time on social media, checking bank accounts, shopping, or the worst offense watching cat videos.

Thankfully, there are a few alternatives that are usually built into monitoring software. Beyond simply watching employees and logging each of their keys, you can also preemptively block any websites that could be considered personal leisure. The other option is somewhat more complex but possible, you can prevent your software from recording which on protected websites such as banks. The technology options available to us are not so black and white in what is possible when it comes to security.

Neither should our thinking be. For employee monitoring it becomes increasingly important to understand how much time is potentially being spent at your organization on non-productive activities. If you can identify those non-productive activities, they you can make a more flexible monitoring program. However, the question still remains should you monitor in the first place? Not necessarily, see businesses have a responsibility to create a safe work environment for employees.

If for example an employee is watching graphic or politically charged content at his workstation regularly, it creates a hostile work environment which violates U. Another scenario, is a data breach. Additionally a data breach that was not adequately protected against could create a crisis of trust for any potential customers or clients of the company. Imagine if a business that you frequent did not take adequate measures to protect your credit card information.

Months later you find out that either employees or hackers were using your card in small increments. It would be infuriating and a gross violation of law in some states. When it comes to security there is not really a replacement for employee monitoring. Employee monitoring is legal, however there are some stipulations that must be followed in some states. In states such as Delaware and Connecticut employers must inform employees that they are being monitored electronically.

Additionally there is federal legislation in effect which may impact your ability to monitor to the scale you want. Additionally do you have any European clients? The question of legality in regards to employee monitoring is an example of meso level ethics in tension with macro level ethics.

Of course many organization comply with the macro level ethical paradigm, the mention of this is to highlight the ethical boundaries of decisions as codified into law. It is easy to rally around safety and security at the expense of privacy while on the company network. Security fails without stakeholder support and commitment. This is where the consistency requirement of the deontological approach towards ethics merges well with the utilitarian.

When it comes to employee monitoring it should consistently apply to everyone in the organization including executives and administrators. With both a positive outcome being pursued in a consistent manner, employee monitoring would be considered good in many cases. Just remember the dragnet approach towards employee monitoring will violate ethical standards at the federal level of government.

To avoid this, always make sure your employees are aware of employee monitoring software. If possible, create a monitoring policy, including consent forms which will explain in detail what you will be monitoring, which data you will be collecting, how you will store it, and who can access it. After-hours monitoring has become a bigger issue in the current remote working environment.

Even though screenshots serve as proof of work, taking them at a wrong time when your employees are browsing social media, their bank accounts, etc. If you do want to use screenshots, find a software that will allow you to limit screenshots only to work-related apps and websites. The same goes for all other intrusive features. However, the best would be to not use any of them, since they are optional with most software providers.

If you really want to get the best out of it, while keeping your employees on board, you need to have a proper plan. Figure out why you actually want to monitor your employees, what data you need, and set up some goals. Once you have that information, see what causes the productivity to go down.

Is it the fact that too much time is spent in meetings? Are your employees spending more time than necessary on social media? Pinpoint the issues that cause bottlenecks and tackle them by talking to your employees and figuring out the plan to minimize these distractions. Although some might disagree, employee monitoring can be ethical. Chloe Arrojado. Entrepreneur Store.

Federal workplace privacy and employee monitoring regulations stem primarily from the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of The ECPA allows business owners to monitor all employee verbal and written communication as long as the company can present a legitimate business reason for doing so. It also allows for additional monitoring if the employee gives consent. However, the ECPA consent provision can be tricky, as it might be inferred to allow monitoring of employees' personal communications as well as business ones.

Additionally, several federal court cases have determined that employers may legally look through employees' emails after they are sent. That's because the ECPA defines "electronic communications" as any electronic messages currently in transmission.

Upon sending, these transmissions become "electronic storage," which courts have determined employers can monitor. In general, monitoring must be within reason. For example, video surveillance can be conducted in common areas and entrances; however, surveillance in bathrooms or locker rooms is strictly prohibited and opens a company up to legal repercussions.

Another issue arises when you retain any recordings, especially of meetings. If you record meetings with employees, especially ones dealing with discipline or HR-related issues, you may be legally obligated to keep those recordings and turn them over to a court if litigation arises.

Monitoring computer web activity is different and can fall under different legal precedent. There are different types of computer monitoring software solutions , some with the ability to show you exactly what employees are doing on their computers. You can monitor everything from what websites employees are browsing on the business's Wi-Fi to what keystrokes they are making on their company laptop.

There is practically no reasonable expectation of privacy for an employee using a company device, so a good rule of thumb is to assume that anything employees do on their company-owned computer is visible to their employer. While it's fine to monitor employees' computer usage to make sure they're not wasting time on social media and frivolous browsing, employers should know they risk acquiring too much information.

Employers already have employees' most personal data, and they can run amok of privacy laws like HIPAA if they disclose private information to anyone. As an employer, you have the burden of protecting that information, even that which comes from an employee's personal browsing history or private data stored on a company computer.

If a data breach were to occur, for example, and certain sensitive information was exposed, it leaves the company vulnerable to litigation by the employee. As with any issue that states regulate, no two states have the same laws on workplace privacy and employee monitoring. The most notable laws come from the following states:. To be safe, you may be best served by checking with your legal counsel that your use of this technology adheres to both federal and state regulations.

Did you know? The ECPA is the primary federal law governing employees' rights under workplace monitoring. Several states have their own regulations that employers in those states must also follow.

Video surveillance doesn't need to be explicitly disclosed to employees and agreed to by your workforce. Visible signage stating that the premises are monitored by security cameras can be enough to cover legal and ethical grounds.

The knowledge that cameras are monitoring everything is often enough to prevent internal theft by employees. Transparency is always a good practice. Since many employees feel uncomfortable being monitored, it's important to be forthcoming about what you hope to accomplish and how surveillance aligns with your business's goals. In fact, transparency can make employees more willing to subject themselves to different methods of monitoring and tracking.

Approximately 50 of 80 employees at technology company Three Square Market voluntarily had microchips implanted in them. The chips allowed the employees to enter the building and buy lunch without keeping track of an ID card. Three Square Market's honesty about the purpose of the microchips led to over half of its employees voluntarily participating in the program.