When the boss is watching: how online life is changing the scope of management
| Date | 10 April 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-11-2016-0104 |
| Published date | 10 April 2017 |
| Pages | 98-99 |
| Author | Nannina Angioni |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
When the boss is watching: how online life is
changing the scope of management
Nannina Angioni
Nannina Angioni is Attorney-
Partner at Kaedian LLP,
Los Angeles, California, USA.
Nowadays, an employer can
get a virtual blueprint of
their employees’ lives. They
can track an employee’s every
move, from the moment they arrive
to the second they leave the
workplace. Various tools track
websites an employee visits, how
much time he/she spends online
and whether the computer sat idle
during the day. Employers can even
recreate every email, text and
instant message an employee sends
from certain devices. Is this new
wave of employee monitoring too
Big Brother, or just responsible
business management?
Employee advocates tout privacy,
proclaiming, correctly, that
employees have privacy rights they
do not check at the door when they
show up to work. They argue that
employees should feel free to air
personal thoughts and grieve about
workplace issues online without
fearing their employer’s watchful
eye. They also argue that most
employer monitoring is nothing more
than a fishing expedition, intended
to root out details an employer may
find personally offensive to use it
against the employee when later
convenient.
On the other hand, employers
argue that they not only have a
right but indeed also a duty to
monitor employees’ online activity.
They cite legitimate business
purposes for doing so – increasing
employee productivity, curtailing
cyberbullying among co-workers,
limiting the risk that employees
download computer viruses and
protecting company trade secrets,
to name a few. Employers contend
that these purposes also justify
their decision to intervene and limit
employees’ social media and
Internet usage whether on or
off-duty.
Both sides of the argument,
however, have risk. Employees
must be sure that their online
posts do not cross into illegal
territory while employers face
exposure for discrimination with an
increased access to data. If an
employer decides to monitor and
take action regarding an
employee’s online activity, some
ground rules should apply:
Employers must be prepared to
handle whatever they find and
apply their rules fairly and
consistently among employees.
Do not go into online
monitoring blind. Have a game
plan regarding what you will do
if you find certain information.
And, whatever the plan is,
apply your practices
consistently among all
employees. For example, if an
employer discovers that two
employees have disclosed
client information online but
decides to discipline only one
of them, the company is setting
e-HR
PAGE 98 STRATEGIC HR REVIEW VOL. 16 NO. 2 2017, pp. 98-99, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 DOI 10.1108/SHR-11-2016-0104
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