Employers snooping on employees

Over the last couple of years, surveillance of employee behaviour in the workplace has become more prevalent. This relates to checking of e-mails, or banning of certain webpages and may be others, such as installing cameras to monitor their behaviour. Arguments put forward said that companies have a right to protect their assets from hacking attacks, from possible virus attacks and that the monitoring would increase employee productivity. It says that employees wouldn't be distracted and they could focus on their work.

Now comes the backslash from regulators, that were worried about the possible infringement into privacy. The EU is preparing "radical new rules" to prevent Europe's "bosses" from snooping. The directive will force employersto abide by a list of rules to ensure they only invade the privacy of their staff in strictly limited circumstances.

This follows other opposition that was articulated in the UK by the Midland's branch of the Trade Unions Congress. They say that snooping isn't just taking liberties, but pure folly. That productivity would go down, ill-health and sick leave goes up and that the workforce feel more like felons than valued employees. Already, 63% of people in the UK prefer to send personal e-mail from home, as 38% of employes admitted monitoring their employee's e-mail.

Yesterday news wsa published saying that in Australia that employers will be banned from spying on employees private e-mails and that they will be bared from using equipment such as video cameras and tracking devices to cast an electronic eye over "the shoulder of their emmployees". Under the laws, employers will have to show a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing by employees in order to look at their private correspondence. A survey last month found nearly half the people questioned resented their employer rifling through their emails.

But more than half the people involved used the internet for private exchanges during office hours and a third said they spent between 20 and 30 minutes each day on personal emails. A survey of 100 major companies a few years ago showed that 75% of them were monitoring emails without employees' knowledge.

In the US respondents to yet another survey said that 24% of respondents admitted using a company's computer for sexual or romantic purposes.

Now - what is now the correct position, if there is any anyway? Is surving around the web, playing games during worktime counterproductive? Does the employee as "human capital" belong to the company? Surely, a company needs to protect its assets. Surely, accessing gaming sides, or pornography during worktime is not allowable.

But considering that we are heading towards a new talent war, considering that companies are flatter, and employees empowered, it really is not possible to demand engagement and loyalty from employees when they are monitored, or not allowed to do anything that is not related to work activity. Going to the kitchen and exchanging news with other employees around the water heater was once seen as a way to support knowledge exchange between employees - and wasn't banned.

Employees want to be treated as responsible adults, not as children that need some rules. We are not supporting the access of pornography - don't get us wrong. But we believe that just because a small pecentage of employees might cross the limits, the remainders also need to be monitored?

It is about communication with employees, setting the rules of the game, creating loyalty and supporting responsible behaviour. Develop a social setting in a company, not one that is characterised by fear, and mistrust.

What do you think?

(By Asia Business Consulting)