Electronic Surveillance of Employees Research Paper

Electronic Surveillance of Employees - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that to keep personal confidential information of a person intact and should not be disclosed to any other irrelevant person shall come under the purview of Privacy. The disclosure of such information may cause emotional distress to a person whose information is kept in confidence. In order to monitor the activities of a person or place to detect discreet activities through electronic devices like cameras, video cameras, tape recorders, microphones, and wiretaps come under the category of surveillance through electronic means. The identified instruments can be utilized in a competent court of law as evidence against violators. Multinational Corporations and corporations of repute use electronic surveillance system to ensure foolproof security and safety within their administrative jurisdiction. An employee can expect privacy at least in those places where hidden cameras or microphones are not fitted such as kitchen, dining room, washroom, s moking corner or petty stationary stores. Employees should know what is permissible and what is not permissible for them in accordance with employer’s privacy policy. Initially, the employer and the employee must have signed the document of the privacy policy to be complied in letter and spirit by the stakeholders. In fact, the employee has given the liberty or the rights to monitor his/her activities whether his/her activities are purely professional or personal. Non-compliance with privacy policy surely invites the displeasure of the management. In the United States of America, Electronic Communication Privacy Act (ECPA) 1986 has given the rights to the employers to monitor job-related conversations of its employees. By virtue of this act, employers enjoy complete freedom to listen incoming and outgoing calls. It hardly takes a minute or two to decide whether the calls so received or dispatched are personal or job related. With this freedom employer can measure the employee ’s sincerity and integrity with the company besides his/her professional competence. The prerogative to differentiate the incoming and outgoing calls of employees still lies with the employer and not with the employee (Lyon, 1994). 2- In this modern age and time, one cannot deny the benefits of technological advancement to prevent any unpleasant situation. By dint of computer technology, it is easy to monitor the activities of any employee by the employer at his/her workplace even at a remote location. Many of the employers allow their employees to have an access on the social sites of Internet. To keep the company environment friendly, the employer should provide space at work place for a chat where one can not disturb him or their conversation may not come out of the space to invite others attention (Mishra & Crampton, 1998). This will definitely improve the performance of a company since unnecessary strictness on the employees may have an adverse impact on their job relate d activities. We cannot deny the fact that â€Å"Happy laborers work more†.