After recent controversies employee surveillance is under the microscope
The benefits of hybrid and remote working have been thoroughly discussed and publicised – whether it's improving your employee's wellbeing with a better work-life balance, fewer commuting expenses and those overpriced lunch breaks or doing away with geographical restrictions to hire from a wider talent pool.
But of course, some drawbacks just won't go away – one of which being the quandary of how to make sure your remote workers are actually working!
The most obvious and simple solution is to trust them. If their daily duties are ticked off by clocking off time, does it really matter whether they are glued to their screens every minute of the day?
For some it does! And this has led to a rise in worker surveillance. There are significant ethical issues when it comes to monitoring an employee's productivity via tracking software, yet around one in five companies has admitted either installing tech to snoop on staff or planning to....The software can check attendance at meetings, log how long workers take to read and reply to messages & even secretly film them.
Several firms have come under fire, amid allegations of monitoring remote workers' activities.
Earlier this year, a worker was ordered to pay back the equivalent of £1500 in wages to her ex-employer, after tracking software deemed, she had "misrepresented" hours of work.
In another incident, August 2023, insurer IAG terminated an employee with an impressive 18-year career (in which time the employee was known as a good worker) because after introducing keystroke monitoring technology, the firm noted periods of zero keystrokes on her device when working remotely.
Naturally, many feel this type of monitoring is intrusive and shows a lack of trust, and some big names have received backlash to their worker surveillance.
What is the law on monitoring staff?
Karen Holden, CEO of A City Law Firm "Monitoring employees working remotely or at the office is not illegal if it complies with regulations including the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Employment Practices Data Protection Code 2011," Holden previously told HR Grapevine.
"An employer ideally should have carried out an impact assessment so it can show there is a legitimate interest behind the mechanisms and how the data is to be stored and used. This is also helpful for the employer to understand and balance trust, and motivation against any loss of staff confidence. Holden continued: "All staff should be treated equally to avoid claims of discrimination and caution should be exercised not to infringe a person's privacy by being too invasive. Given recent times an employer should be sensitive to staff well-being, health and the hours staff are working. Why does it matter? Will workers accept more surveillance if it allows more flexibility? This correlates with GetApp's previous study, which found that a high proportion of employees that have changed jobs in the last 2years, moved to find a new role which permit a flexible working schedule.
"The employees should provide their consent and have knowledge of what the employer is doing if an employer is to avoid potential grievances and claims. As such a dedicated policy should be circulated to inform staff of what is being done and why to avoid surprises and confusion (unless this has already been set out in their employment contracts)."
"This is actually common practice in large London businesses. Specifically for keystroke capture, employers will need to obtain written agreement for this type of monitoring in some cases."
If done properly, employee tracking is totally legal, but implementing such software risks breaking employer-employee trust, and many people have spoken out against the rise in these measures.
If new research is to be believed, working in a Big Brother environment is a trade-off many are willing to accept in exchange for one of the most sought-after work perks.
GetApp UK- a UK-based B2B software comparison site surveyed over 1,000 SME employees to better understand their perspective on flexible working schedules. They found that 71% of staff would agree to more surveillance at work to be granted a flexible working schedule.
