Introduction
Technology’s increased use and development have led to the common practice of employees working from home. These new changes have led to an increase in employee monitoring in most companies. According to Nwosu (2022), it shows that employers can track the behavior of employees using electronic devices and internet accounts that are company owned by using information technology. Some ways that monitoring can be done are through video monitoring, phone call monitoring, keystroke logging, and email monitoring. Numerous questions have been raised on the ethicality and legality of monitoring employee privacy. Moreover, just like anything else, there are disadvantages and advantages to closely tracking an employee’s day-to-day activities. In this context, weighing the benefits and drawbacks of electronic employee monitoring needs to be done. If the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, it is ethical and vice versa (Yerby, 2013). This essay aims to illustrate if it is ethical for companies to monitor their employees working from home.
One of the reasons that employee monitoring is ethical is that it ensures improved business productivity. This productivity is enhanced due to employees’ tasks and output. Moreover, it is easier to access and understand why an employee has not done the job at hand (Fairweather, 2017). Most of the time, it is observed that hours are spent on unproductive activities, thus a detriment to the company. Kiser et al. (2010) state that when a problem arises, it is easier to deal with it as companies react to the situation arising and fix it as they are aware of it when monitoring. Moreover, employee monitoring promotes productivity as employees maximize their efforts to ensure their work is recognized and appreciated. Also, it is a motivation factor as they know they are being observed and thus use work periods efficiently. A productive workforce will lead to higher returns and can save one time when it comes to payments, especially for companies dealing with shifts and overtime.
Additionally, monitoring protects your business from insider threats and security breaches as it shows how data is assessed and moves from one place to another (Nangia ,2022). Employee monitoring helps managers lock and protects data from unnecessary employees to reduce security threats and exposure to unauthorized documents. This will limit the security issues arising in the business, ensuring everything is done as it should be. For example, when an employee does a malicious activity in a company, the software will alert the employer that one accessed information they are not authorized to. Georgidaou et al., (2021) state that they safeguard sensitive data and threats against insider threats. It’s also easier to identify if the malicious activity done by an employee was intentional or not. When employee monitoring is done, it is easy to view and identify employees with malicious intentions; thus, monitoring provides essential security.
Furthermore, supervisors can quickly provide feedback to employees working from home regarding their performance (Nangia, 2022). research shows that most employees appreciate the feedback the companies give them as it boosts morale; thus, productivity increases. Feedback from the monitoring software is accurate and offers real-time statistics, so it is easy to articulate a fragile area and fix it. In addition, employers can provide feedback based on individual performance and the time taken to complete tasks (Kiser et al., 2010). When feedback is provided, it points out the difficulties and strengths according to the data on the monitor software. This ensures that effort is recognized and rewarded individually as technology keeps records. Moreover, by offering feedback, representatives identify each person’s weakness and train them to reduce resource and time wastage. If the feedback is negative, it will be easier to provide proof and reduce unnecessary arguments such as discrimination; thus, this helps justify the report.
Also, Remote employee monitoring offers the advantage of tracking employee attendance and daily progress. Since the onset of remote work, companies have grappled with employee attendance and struggled to manage remote attendances. This is because it is not easy to identify if an employee reported at work since they are doing it remotely from home. Fairweather (2017) states that this monitoring software can handle many aspects of attendance, such as off-time schedule, start scheduling, leaves, and breaks. This makes it easier for employers to access employees’ work availability and daily progress while working at home. This hugely affects the impact of performance on individual employees and the entire workforce as their availability at work matters. This tool easily identifies those who fail to report to work (Yerby,2013). Checking attendance ensures that work progresses and the business can run more profitably. When employees realize they are being monitored, they will adhere to the timings to avoid repercussions.
According to Chang et sl., (2015) shows that monitoring employees build trust among employees and employers in a company. Mistrust occurs when an employer cannot access and account for the employee’s time. When monitoring is implemented, the employer will be at peace with the productivity and efficient use of work periods. Also, employees will have the right conscience to make the right decision as they know they are being monitored (Nwosu ,2022). For example, in a company where employees work remotely, employers tend to think that employees are wasting their time on other activities rather than concentrating on their work. Monitoring has helped assure and monitor every step made during work periods. Other than trust, it shows transparency; thus, employees are assured there will be minimal risk of their private data being used against them.
Another reason that makes employee monitoring by companies ethical is that it allows the employer to view saved documents and installed applications and websites on the company property. Like on the computers and devices used to work remotely by employees (Kiser et al., 2010). moreover, it also monitors the business files among the clients and the employees, accounts information, and how data is managed (Fairweather, 2017). When data is managed and monitored, it will be difficult for different employees to claim the work of another as everything done is being realized. Monitoring helps ensure that individuals do not visit their sites during work. These sites are social media such as Facebook. The monitoring app makes it easier to identify if an employee has clicked on a suspicious link that could be of a hacker before any damage is caused.
There is a variety of reasons why employee monitoring is unethical. One of the primary reasons is that remote monitoring makes employees feel that the company is violating their privacy. Employees not being aware of why and how they are being monitored will make them insecure about running their daily business, leading to less productivity (Chang et al., 2015). Employees will feel more anxious when they do not fully comprehend their employer’s intention. According to Nwosu (2022), research shows that from January 2021, less than 50% of employees trust their companies with their data, and 44% are unaware of the data that business collects. If employees feel their data has been intruded on, most of them will quit their work; thus, retaining employees will be difficult, making the company ineffective. Georgiadou et al., 2021) state that most people use the same devices when working and for other personal issues. This makes them feel that monitoring is crossing the line to knowing their business.
Additionally, employee monitoring is considered unethical as data collected by employers may be at risk of harmful third-party access. With so much access to an employee’s data and online activity, you will inevitably come across sensitive information like bank account information, medical information, or highly intimate communications (Chang et al., 2015)). Employee privacy may be exploited or revealed if your system is compromised. This will lead to the drop of your business if such an alteration is brought up. Hackers are all over, and for the tools to be secured, companies should avoid accessing unnecessary information on the employee. Arguments on how the tool should be used have been trending for the past years since employees worked from home.
Conclusion
It is shown that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks; this indicates that employee monitoring is ethical. It is shown that what makes employee monitoring unethical majorly is the breach of privacy on the employees by companies. Besides, many benefits come with employee monitoring, especially for companies. It leads to improved productivity; it makes it easier to reward attendance and review daily progress made in the company by individuals. Also, it is easy to identify employees’ weaknesses and train them to ensure that the business is run effectively. Companies must develop a contract that the employees are involved in to create transparency and educate them on the benefits of the monitoring. If this is done, cases of unethical employee monitoring will be significantly reduced as everyone is contented with how it is being handled. In addition, employees will feel incredibly safe if they are sure that this monitoring will not interfere with their privacy.
References
Chang, S. E., Liu, A. Y., & Lin, S. (2015). Exploring privacy and trust for employee monitoring. Industrial Management & Data Systems.
Fairweather, N. B. (2017). Surveillance in employment: The case of teleworking. In Computer Ethics (pp. 381-391). Routledge.
Georgiadou, A., Mouzakitis, S., & Askounis, D. (2022). Working from home during COVID-19 crisis: a cyber security culture assessment survey. Security Journal, 35(2), 486-505.
Kiser, A. I., Porter, T., & Vequist, D. (2010). Employee monitoring and ethics: Can they co-exist? International Journal of Digital Literacy and Digital Competence (IJDLDC), 1(4), 30-45.
Nangia, R. (2022). Work from Home (WFH) and Covid-19: Encountering ethical issues in new normal. Asian Journal of Management, 13(1), 94-100.
Nwosu, O. (2022). Monitoring Productivity Vis-a-Vis Employee Privacy: Legal and Ethical Considerations. Available at SSRN 4095627.
Yerby, J. (2013). Legal and ethical issues of employee monitoring. Online Journal of Applied Knowledge Management (OJAKM), 1(2), 44-55.
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