Monitoring employees involves the continuous surveillance of employees by using tools that track the progress of, monitor and evaluate the employee’s attendance, behavior and productivity. Remote working has become a common practice and the shift to cloud computing platforms, businesses are increasingly embracing monitoring their workplaces to make sure that their assets are safe and secured. Monitoring productivity and performance of employees are just a few of the reasons why employers should monitor their employees. It gives employers the confidence that the job is being completed and offer valuable insights into employee performance while also putting confidence in them to ensure that they’re operating in a responsible manner.
Inspecting the performance of employees and their productivity are another reason employers need to monitor their employees
The risks to be considered
There’s a wide array of monitoring tools currently available to employers. They can range from time and activity, or keystroke frequency tracking, as well as some more specific tools that use webcams, or even captures the text that is that is entered. In the right environment when employees are well-informed and engaged, the features of these monitoring tools could be beneficial in monitoring productivity, however it’s all too easy to go over the line into becoming intrusive, and thereby increasing security vulnerabilities. There are numerous examples of the right methods of monitoring. This includes email analytics software which monitor the time spent on emails as well as time monitoring systems , such as electronic timesheets or clocking machines. However, requiring employees to use biometrics to clock a machine without a valid reason or requiring clocking in and out to go to the bathroom, could violate privacy laws. Employers should also be aware of violations of employment laws, and the Equality Act, and Human Rights Act with excessive or improper monitoring of employees.
As well as the dangers of violating laws that were designed to protect people using monitoring tools, they could also put your company’s security in jeopardy. Keystroke logs could pose a significant risk to cyber security through tracking passwords and confidential information. There are other aspects companies should be aware of when it comes to monitoring employees. For instance the continuous monitoring of webcams could easily record personal data of the other residents at home, information which the business is not legally or ethically obligated to gather. It’s likely to be seen as overly intrusive and unnecessary. If we look at mobile phones used by employees there’s a need for companies to monitor the devices in the event of their loss or stolen. Employers can also track the use of the device (such as personal use that is at the expense of the company or the use of nefarious apps).
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Monitoring employees in excess, and the accessibility and presence of this data could pose dangerous security risk. This vulnerability could be exploited by insider threats that involve the loss of data, acts of espionage, or disclosure of the information. Hackers can also use the data that companies store on their tracking systems to threaten employees with blackmail and obtain more sensitive data.
If you’re considering the implementation of employee monitoring, in order to do so in a legal and safe manner it is essential to ensure:
Monitoring of employees is proportional to the risk and work.
Only the most reliable monitoring software is utilized.
Access controls are in to protect against the abuse of the data.
Security experts assist to ensure security measures are in place when surveillance is planned to be massive or even comprehensive.
You should seek out the assistance of a specialist in data protection who will assist you in any ethical and legal issues that arise from monitoring employees.
Monitoring employees in excess, as well as the availability and accessibility of the data could be an extremely risky vulnerability
Legal aspects
Monitoring of employees is not explicitly illegal under the law. However, the laws such as the GDPR as well as the Human Rights Act place limits and obligations in this place. The GDPR stipulates that the purpose behind your actions is legitimate and legal in the first place. Companies must prove the existence of a genuine danger that must be addressed by using surveillance. Surveillance has to be disclosed until there is a compelling justification to not do this. For instance when abuse of a patient is suspected and the use of hidden cameras to locate the perpetrator is justified provided that it is in compliance with the guidelines of the Health and Social Care Act. In any event employees should be informed that they are monitored. After you’ve proven that your actions are legitimate, you have to prove that it’s legal. This means you have to not be in violation of other laws and rules and regulations.
The action must be essential in order to reach the fair and legal goal. It is simply that if you’re able to accomplish your goal with less hassle that is, you should accomplish it. As an example, the HR department may have to be aware of specific health data in order to protect workers’ rights. But, the information shouldn’t be shared folders available to managers or used for anything else than for the purposes it was intended to serve without the active and meaningful consent from the worker. Be cautious about permissions because it’s very uncommon for consent to be the sole justification for processing personal data of employees due to the lack of power between employers and employees.
Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) permit you to understand and record the primary, benefits, challenges and legal implications of your processing plan. A test of balance of interest (which might be a part the DPIA) can assist in resolving the inherent conflicts between the rights of employees as well as the public interest as well as those of the employer. When using many of the cloud-based tracker services it is essential that you select a GDPR-compliant hosting location , such for that of the UK, EU, or any other jurisdiction deemed sufficient according to the ICO. A lot of tools collect data globally however, they will permit you to limit data to a specific area.
Device monitoring dos and dont’s
It is recommended to be cautious in the event of installing device monitoring in the workplace. Here are some guidelines about the proper and improper use of monitoring devices to ensure that you are in compliance with the law and adhere to the privacy rights of employees.
Utilize security settings that are robust (strong security passwords as well as encryption, rather than pins with six digits).
Inform employees about the monitoring of devices in advance and keep their confidence. Make sure to use specific agreements with users to demonstrate this. Workers are much more likely accept monitoring of their workplace if they’ve been informed about the concept prior to when they were.
Don’t allow the history of your location to be reviewed only in cases of a pressing requirement, such as the case of a device that has been reported as lost or there is a reasonable suspicion of illegal behaviour or conduct that could pose an imminent threat to the business.
Complete an DPIA prior to establishing monitoring of employees and then revisit it throughout the duration of the project. It is vital to identify any potential conflicts with the law and risks, or the opinions and needs of employees and also to prove that you are in compliance with the lawful obligation to “data safeguarding by design as well as default”.
Utilize tests, pilots and employee surveys ahead of the launch of devices and employee monitoring systems.
Conclusion
Employers must think about whether monitoring is a viable method of managing their workforce, beyond the standard methods of trust. Monitoring employees isn’t just concerned with the use of technology, and should not be done in a shady manner. Any monitoring that is excessively intruding will be deemed to be illegal and the consequences resulting from excessive monitoring can be very severe under the law on data protection. It is a simple way to violate privacy rights of individuals If an organization is considering monitoring their employees it is essential to have written policies in place to ensure that they’re not violating privacy laws and discuss with employees what and why monitoring of employees will be conducted.