Question

Your company provides you with a car. You are told only to drive in Dade and Broward and only to use the car for business purposes. One weekend your family is going to the Keys. You get in your personal car and it won’t start so you take the company car to the Keys, which is in Monroe, for the weekend.

When you return to work on Monday your boss calls you in his office and asks you why you drove the car outside of Dade and Broward. You explain and then ask him how he knew. He tells you that each company car has a GPS track system. The insurance company gives us a discount if we only drive in a limited area and one of the requirements is that we track our cars. He also tells you the cost of the insurance and trip will be taken from your next paycheck and you are lucky to have a job.

The above is just one example of the types of surveillance that a company might use. They can track you with your cell phone and look at the phone numbers you called. They can install video cameras. They can monitor every key stroke on your computer.

Please discuss your thoughts about being monitored by your employer. Do you think it is right or wrong? After thinking about it would you do anything differently at work? Feel free to include actual personal experiences.

Post your initial response (at least one paragraph), read all of the posts, and post two detailed replies to at least two other student's posts.

Answer 1

My thoughts about being monitored by my employer are that while the actions of the employer may be legal it is completely unethical. Privacy of employees should not be compromised with when monitoring their actions and when this happens, as it is bound to happen, then such an action of employer is unethical.

In order to ensure that all employees behave in a desired manner and do not misuse the assets of the company the company should properly train and orient their employees. The company should set written policies with regards to issues like workplace conduct, use of assets of the company, and making full and proper disclosures.

When such a structure is in place then employees will not be required to be monitored by the company, rather the employees will be self-regulating their actions as per the framework and policies of the company. The employees will not breach the standards and requirements set by the company and this will reduce the need for surveillance.

Whatever may be the case monitoring the actions of employees through surveillance dilutes their privacy and this is unethical. Organizations should come up with alternate means so as to ensure that monitoring of employees are not required while ensuring that are actions are completely bound by their policy framework.