Are you confused about whether employee monitoring is legal or not?
Well, as more and more people are adopting remote work due to COVID-19 impact, companies are getting forced to take the help of different monitoring software to keep an eye on their employee's productivity.
But, let me tell you, employee tracking is not new at all. It has been here for ages and involves things like tracking clock-ins, executing GPS tracking, and using security cameras.
But the question arises, is this all allowed?
Are companies doing the right thing by tracking their employee's activity? And wait, the most vital question - is employee monitoring legal?
Oh gosh, so many questions! No need to worry, as here in this article, we are going to help you lessen up all your worries. Here, we will try to uncover everything you need to know about employee monitoring. So, without making it more lengthy, let's get started.
What Is Employee Tracking?
Let's first cover what employee tracking is and why organizations do it, before we get into the tips and methods.
Employee tracking is an employer's use of multiple types of surveillance and data collection. Well, this can include software for employee tracking, keycards, biometrics, and various other techniques.
Why Do Organizations Do This?
Well, most organizations track their employee's activities for two main reasons:
- To make sure their workers are productive and concentrating on their jobs.
- For data protection purposes! Just to keep an eye on the details, their employees share.
The Common Forms Of Employee Tracking
Here is a quick sneak-peek at the most popular employee tracking methods:
- Workstation and Computer tracking
- Social media and internet tracking
- Tracking keystrokes and screen content
- Keeping a check on the company phone conversations and voicemail
Is Employee Monitoring Legal?
So, it's not illegal to track your employee's activity. Of course, you have to maintain a good level of transparency between your employees so that they will even become comfortable with it. And yes, try to choose the right tracking software so that there will be no worries in the future.
03 Tips On Implementing Employee Tracking Successfully
Now that you know what employee monitoring is all about and whether it is okay to go with it, let us focus on the tips to implement it successfully.
1. Always look at the laws, rules, and regulations.
Because employee and remote workplace tracking can differ between nations, states, and even counties, before monitoring the workers, be sure to consult all possible laws. And yes, know the limitations too, like on what extent you can go.
2. Be transparent about every single thing.
As we discussed earlier, get your employees informed about everything. Although reminding the staff of such monitoring measures is not necessary, it's still a good idea to be open about them. Basically, it will be a crucial step towards maintaining the trust level between you and your employees.
For example, inform your employees about:
- What are you going to monitor?
- What is the reason for doing this?
- When you will be implementing it?
3. Go for employee-friendly tools.
Another best way of implementing employee tracking is by taking the help of transparent tracking software. There are a lot of tools available in the market, but when we talk about the best one, then EmpMonitor is the only name that instantly pops up in everyone's mind. So, research a bit and then go for the best one.
Also watch: How To Implement Remote Worker Monitoring At Your Business?
