history of monitoring and surveillance in the workforce

Running Head : History of Work Force Monitoring and Surveillance

History of Work Force Monitoring and Surveillance

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Date :History of Work Force Monitoring and Surveillance

The extent to which organizations monitor their employees reflects a lot about how the organization perceives its employees . Workforce surveillance entails email and internet monitoring , gathering of personal data , biometrics , local tracking as well as covert surveillance . Studies show that surveillance has been a part of organizational routine since time immemorial and that surveillance can take technological and social

forms . There are varied reasons as to why companies would want to monitor their employees (Adams , et al . 200 Technological advancement has over time revealed many loopholes through which valued company records such as client data can be accessed illegally . On the other hand , the Federal Trade Commission of the United States established the Safeguard Rules that seek to protect client information against any physical and technical threats so to retain confidentiality , integrity and privacy of such data . Most companies thus install surveillance systems to help them comply with the federal law since it is hard to trust every employee

Workforce surveillance also helps in protecting the organization against legal liabilities . Monitoring facilitates for the individual protection of employees by eliminating or reducing any occurrence of harassment in the work force . Electronic surveillance has for instance enabled organizations to protect their assets , reduce misuse of company resources an in avoiding any legal liabilities . According to a 2001 work place surveillance and monitoring report...