Workers experience anxiety when they think their supervisor is observing them all the time. Consequently, keeping a close eye on an employee’s Internet usage might lead to animosity and create challenging ethical and legal dilemmas. Employers are at liberty to monitor their own equipment with which to monitor the performance of an employee, notice improper behavior, among others. However, there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to keep an eye on your staff. Read further to find out.
Overview of Monitoring Employee Performance
Your corporate handbook should make it obvious whether you want to monitor personnel. Employees should Provide details of the policy and get instructions about who is authorized to monitor activities and how equipment may be monitored. Additionally, express your respect for people’s privacy. If you find out that an employee spends the entire day gambling online while using his work laptop, you should keep such information confidential to avoid legal issues.
Having a clear policy on what is and is not appropriate usage of business property places the burden of evidence on the employee in the event that he decides to take you to court for rights violations.
Industry-Specific Issues
If there are instances where worker monitoring genuinely benefits your industry, make sure to highlight this. Electronic driver logs, for instance, assist employers in monitoring drivers in the trucking business, mostly for safety purposes. Employers are able to monitor driver logs to ascertain whether a driver is attempting to drive excessive distances or is not taking enough breaks between jobs. This kind of tracking is akin to a traditional punch clock in that regard.
Establishing Limits
While keeping an eye on output is good, it is not proper to search through a worker’s social media accounts to see if she is discussing you. The National Labor Relations Board believes that employers cannot retaliate against workers based on complaints made through social media, such as related to wages or working conditions. That is, even if you discover that a worker writes she hates her job 90% of the time in the status updates, there is little you can do about it. So why bother to find it?
The Necessity of Impartiality
Having employee tracking systems such as Controlio, rather than a person, monitor employee behavior is one of the best methods to prevent uncomfortable situations. Software can record the data you require, such as how much time you spend online, without being overly intimate. Before staff members browse distracting or inappropriate websites, you can block them.
Final Words
Remember that employees who spend time on Facebook or Twitter during the workday may be doing so for networking goals that could ultimately help your company. Thus, consider whether online behavior actually qualifies as messing around. Additionally, acknowledge that not every employee operates in the same manner. While some individuals require frequent breaks to maximize productivity throughout the day, others can want to remain solitary and focus on their work in silence. To find out if someone is really harming output, check at general productivity before you slam on someone for lazily occupying company time.