Now that we know it is possible to spy on employees,
the question should be considered of whether or not
it is ethical to use technology on employees and
whether or not they should be told.

For as much as a business needs to trust the people
it employs, a business needs it's employees to trust
it. It is therefore vital for an employer to tell his
employees that they may be spied upon. Many good
employees will find the very fact that they may be
spied upon grounds for them to leave but that is their
prerogative. It is doubtful that many people would like 
the FBI to follow them everywhere they go just looking 
for them to make a mistake so they can be persecuted. 
To the same extent, many people would not like their 
boss to follow them around all day waiting for them
to do something wrong. The very fact that someone is
being watched can put an undue stress on them and
drastically decrease their productivity because they
are constantly watching over their shoulder.

So, when is it justifiable to spy on an employee?
When an individual employee is clearly suspected of
abusing company equipment or actually breaking the law, it
would be a good time to roll out secretive security
measures to actually catch them in the act. It may also
be a good idea to implement the biometric technology
as a regular security measure. 

The best thing to do is to ask employees how they feel 
about spy-ware to find out if it will cause them undue
burden. Listen to them and be honest. If the company is
afraid it is being abused, tell them and see if they
can come up with ideas on how to prevent it. Honesty
is an important focus of business but so is communication
and morale. A business which nobody wants to work for
will not stay in business long.


This article is Copyright 2001, Ken Witherow. All rights reserved.
For questions or comments, email phantoml@rochester.rr.com