Monitoring Employees
Email, Social Media,
Phones, & GPS Tracking
GROUP 4
Peter Rankin, Kayla Roache, Derrick Fulton, Pam Goulais
Janet Lavoie, Eric Annala, Tiffany Falconer
PROS OF MONITORING EMAILS
•
Can create a paper trail of any type of work place harassment or
cyberbullying. (Schulman, 2014)
•
It helps to control hostile and harassing communications and encourages a safe and
professional work environment. (Joseph, n.d.)
•
•
•
•
Increases employee productivity. (Padilla, 2005)
Security protects confidential information. (Padilla, 2005)
Increases in network performance. (Padilla, 2005)
Aids in regulatory compliance. (Padilla, 2005)
CONS OF MONITORING EMAILS
•
•
It creates a lack of trust among employees. (Joseph, n.d.)
•
Monitoring is expensive and may divert funds from other revenue generating
endeavours. (Joseph, n.d.)
•
•
Can create storage and retention issues. (Padilla, 2005)
Employees feel a sense of intrusion and lack of freedom resulting in a decrease in
morale. (Joseph, n.d.)
Can decrease network/computer performance. (Padilla, 2005)
ADDITIONAL EMAIL INFORMATION
• According to an American Management Association study, over half of
responding businesses monitor email. Over one quarter of those companies
had fired someone due to email misuse. (Guerin, D, n.d.)
PROS OF MONITORING SOCIAL MEDIA
• Encouraging the use of social media among workers can increase their
collaboration and make more effective work relationships within the
organization. (Falls, 2014)
• If an employer does check into social media profiles they may be able to see,
and mitigate any issues or things being said online that could be potentially
damaging to the company's reputation.
CONS OF MONITORING SOCIAL MEDIA
•
Employees may put information on social media that they feel is hidden but the
public is able to access it. (Kwasniewski, 2011)
ADDITIONAL SOCIAL MEDIA INFORMATION
• On Oct 19, 2014 the Supreme Court of Canada said that workplace
computers contain so much personal information nowadays that employees
have a legitimate expectation of privacy in using them. Employers can monitor
their employees but employees have to know it is going on and can only do so
if they have reasonable cause. (Makin, 2012)
PROS OF MONITORING PHONES
•
Employees being monitored may benefit in the sense that monitoring can provide
immediate feedback, keep the workforce efficient and focused and discourage
unethical and illegal behaviour. (Ciocchetti, 2010)
•
Monitoring of company telephone communications can be clearly outlined in company
policy which may prevent major legal problems. (Ciocchetti, 2010)
•
American laws allow employers to listen to a phone conversation until they recognize
that it is personal, at which time they must cease and desist. (Ciocchetti, 2010)
CONS OF MONITORING PHONES
• Grants the ability to blanket the workplace and hear everything, this type of
monitoring is unable to determine when a conversation is personal and
disconnect the recording. (Ciocchetti, 2010)
• Employers can monitor every detail of their employees' actions,
communications and whereabouts in and out of the workplace. These invasive
practices can lead to sneaking around, lower morale, cause complaints, lead
to employees quitting, and even lead to fear of using company equipment for
work purposes. (Ciocchetti, 2010)
PROS OF TRACKING WITH GPS
• An organization can know where the employees are at all times.
(Businessknowledgesource.com, n.d.)
• Very affordable now through phones or fleet management systems.
(Businessknowledgesource.com, n.d.)
• A safety feature because you can see if they have gotten stranded, especially in poor
weather conditions. (Businessknowledgesource.com, n.d.)
• Information is easily accessed by phone or computer. (Businessknowledgesource.com, n.d.)
• Ability to give accurate estimates on delivery times while they are en route.
(Businessknowledgesource.com, n.d.)
CONS OF TRACKING WITH GPS
• Employees can feel like it's an invasion of privacy.
(Businessknowledgesource.com, n.d.)
• Employees feel as if the organization doesn't trust them.
(Businessknowledgesource.com, n.d.)
REFERENCE LIST
Businessknowledgesource.com (n.d.) Equipping company vehicles with GPS, pros and cons. Retrieved from
http://businessknowledgesource.com/smallbusiness/equipping_company_vehicles_with_gps_pros_and_cons_025392.html
Ciocchetti, C.A. (2010). The eavesdropping employer: a twenty-first century framework for employee monitoring. Retrieved from
http://www.futureofprivacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/The_Eavesdropping_Employer_%20A_Twenty-First_Century_Framework.pdf
Falls, R. (2014, January 14). The benefits of social media networking at work. Retireved from http://hrcloud.com/the-benefits-of-social-media-networking-atwork/
Guerin, L., D, J. (n.d.). Email monitoring: can your employer read your messages? Retrieved from http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/email-monitoring-canemployer-read-30088.html
Joseph, C. (n.d.). What are the pros & cons of email monitoring? Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/list_6853270_pros-cons-email-monitoring_.html
Kwasniewski, B.W. (2011, March 30). Social media: an emerging issue in the workplace. Retrieved from
http://www.carters.ca/pub/bulletin/charity/2011/chylb246.htm
Makin, K. (2012, October 19). Supreme Court rules employees have right to privacy on work computers. Retrieved from
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/supreme-court-rules-employees-have-right-to-privacy-on-work-computers/article4625660/
Padilla, R., Jr. (2005, September 11). E-mail and web use monitoring: good or bad? Tech Decision Maker. Retrieved from
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tech-decision-maker/e-mail-and-web-use-monitoring-good-or-bad/
Schulman, M. (2014). Little brother is watching you. Retrieved from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v9n2/brother.html