Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Workplace surveillance has become increasingly popular over the past few years, and there are now numerous methods that can be used to monitor employees, these include: · Hidden Cameras; · Keyboard Monitoring (counting keystrokes, eg. data-entry); · Undercover Workers (similar to spies); · Telephone and Email Monitoring; · Monitored Web Use; and · Monitoring Staff Locations (electronic locators). Over seventy five per cent of employees in the USA are being monitored in some form as they go about their day-to-day routines, many of which are unaware that the surveillance is even in place (Serwer, 2003). This highlights the magnitude of workplace surveillance, yet its application is expected to grow significantly more in the near future. There are numerous reasons as to why workplace surveillance has become such common practice in the everyday workforce, mainly relating to employees being less productive, and in some cases behaving in an inappropriate or even illegal manner. Instead of monitoring only those employees whose exhibit suspicious behaviour, many employers are instituting “continuous, systematic surveillance” in the workplace in order to identify any wrong doing by all employees (Schulman, Privacy