Before you begin celebrating having your pet as your work buddy, take a moment to read this newsletter, no matter how flexible your work situation is. Remote work might seem perfect, especially if you have an office PC, but it may not be as great as it appears.
This week, The Global Tiller explores “bossware,” which is technology used to monitor employees during the pandemic. We examine how technology helps businesses keep track of what their workers do, how it affects their work, and what steps are being taken to manage this practice.
Workplace surveillance is when a boss watches or checks on employees. This can include things like using your work ID to enter the office or tracking when you log in and out of your work computer. As technology has improved, monitoring methods have become more advanced.
Employers can now check employees’ emails, internet history, and saved files. They can also look at personal devices linked to the office WiFi, turn on employees’ webcams from afar, track how much employees are typing, record phone calls, and monitor social media use, even on personal accounts outside of work hours. Even a low-paid garbage worker in India is tracked all the time.
Some apps, like Veriato, provide workers with a ‘risk score’ that helps to assess how likely they are to be a security threat, leak information, or steal company ideas. RemoteDesk is a service designed for remote workers who need a safe work environment, like those handling personal health data or credit card information. However, it uses facial recognition through webcams to make sure employees are always looking at their screens, nobody else is around, and they are not eating or drinking while working.
Worse yet, nine out of ten of these companies said they fired employees after using tracking software. Some of these programs use AI to evaluate how productive workers are. For example, Microsoft’s Productivity Score shows your boss how often you join video calls, send emails, and use other apps in the Microsoft suite. Due to negative reactions to this product, Microsoft had to change the app, and now it doesn’t identify workers anymore. But a wrong productivity score through another similar app could very well seal your fate at your business.
Employers might say that employee monitoring during remote work is necessary to ensure they are productive, but employees feel like this is making them less motivated to work. Some workers were shocked when their boss’s voice unexpectedly filled their living rooms. Others were put on unpaid leave simply because they didn’t download the monitoring software when their jobs moved online in 2020. Being watched at work can make employees feel less independent and lead to more stress. Even the WHO guidelines on remote work warn companies against excessive monitoring.
Even with its downsides, more businesses are choosing to use bossware solutions like Controlio. Sweden leads in interest among bosses about famous employee surveillance tools, followed by the United States and Norway. Whether they can use those tools depends a lot on the rules about worker privacy.
Trade groups want new rules to protect workers. They are asking for clearer information when monitoring software is used. California is near passing a law to protect workers from hidden monitoring by their employers. And other data security and human rights organisations are working to make sure all the data does not fall into wrong hands.
As we adapt to remote work, it might help companies to keep in mind why they started letting employees work from home. Was it to make the workplace more open and enjoyable for employees, or just to cut costs by not renting a pricey office? Is tracking typing or counting Zoom calls the best way to see how hard your employee is working? Can we trust AI to decide which employee is the biggest risk when it has trouble recognizing people of color on camera?
If you’re an employer who uses monitoring tools, we would like to know how you build trust with your teams. If you think you might be watched at work, here are some tips to help you protect your privacy.