Employee Monitoring

**slgrieb** · February 24th, 2006, 08:06 PM

Yeah, being asked to perform to different standards than other employees certainly stinks, and may be grounds for a lawsuit. You need to weigh the benefits of continued emplyoment versus the cash gains of a lawsuit. I went through this with a former employer who wanted me to have CDL (commercial drivers license) while a female manager with an identical job description was exempted from the rule, even though she needed it per company policy, and I didn't.

**Larommi** · February 26th, 2006, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by Richard1

Companies it seem are cracking down more and more on employees using the internet, employee theft or making personal calls, etc. My last job they were pretty vigilant about phone calls but not so muh on Internet usage. Have you had any experience with your company and employee monitoring, or are you the person who controls the monitoring? Would love to hear from you.

We just had a talking to about that subject. Us salaried office people are allowed to make personal calls, within reason. We are allowed to surf the internet on breaks but thats it. I really don't have an issue with any of it. It is their stuff and I am doing it on their dime.

**BOB IROC** · February 27th, 2006, 09:48 AM

Originally Posted by Larommi

It is their stuff and I am doing it on their dime.

I wish more people had that attitude. Thats what they need to realize is that the phones and computers do not belong to them and really need to only make necessary personal phone calls and personal internet usage. I mean no one is saying that you cannot call if your car is in the shop or if there is an emergency, but to call to just shoot the breeze for a half hour is a little ridiculous.

**3fingersalute** · February 27th, 2006, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by BOB IROC

I wish more people had that attitude. Thats what they need to realize is that the phones and computers do not belong to them and really need to only make necessary personal phone calls and personal internet usage. I mean no one is saying that you cannot call if your car is in the shop or if there is an emergency, but to call to just shoot the breeze for a half hour is a little ridiculous.

exactly - and what most employees don't realize, is that most business phone plans pay a per-call fee on all outgoing calls, its not unlimited like home phones. So even at only a few cents per call with 100 employees making on average of 4 personal calls a day, we're talking about 200 or more dollars a month spent just on personal calls.

**CeeBee** · February 27th, 2006, 10:45 AM

Our internet pipe goes through the Corporate HQ and is being monitored/filtered. For this reason I have to use a VPN to home to be able to access some stuff (such as security-related/hacking). We routinely monitor phone usage. It is allowed for employees to use the phone & internet for personal stuff in "decent" amounts. But again, every employee knows he/she is being watched.
On the other side we crack down on storing music files on the computers. I routinely scan all machines. They may bring in their own CD with MP3's, but not copy them on the HDD.

**ThierryCarter** · May 25th, 2012, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by Richard1

Companies it seem are cracking down more and more on employees using the internet, employee theft or making personal calls, etc. My last job they were pretty vigilant about phone calls but not so muh on Internet usage. Have you had any experience with your company and employee monitoring, or are you the person who controls the monitoring? Would love to hear from you.

I have a small internet based company, so I have outsourced employees working online for me. Since I can't see them, I really needed a way to make sure they are working and not slacking off during the time I'm paying for. The software named My Team Monitor, that I'm using, records screenshots, the number of keystrokes and mouse clicks made, and the times during which the employee was idle or active while at work. This software is free, so I don't have any extra expenses for using it, but I know exactly what employee-activities I'm paying for. This is why I find it a necessary tool nowadays.

**Mayet** · May 25th, 2012, 06:18 PM

it's funny reading old posts by everyone...

**MobilePCPhysician** · May 25th, 2012, 09:58 PM

Oh, and by the way, the woman that sued, lost on all counts. It took almost two years to work it's way through the system. Her attorney was just looking to get any kind of payout. Since no one blinked, trial was called for. They gave up after two days in court.

**CCT** · May 26th, 2012, 02:28 PM

When the wife is weeding the vegetables, I sit right close in that lawn chair with my iced-red-wine and watch close, real close, so she doesn't miss a weed.

Can't be too careful ya know.

Nope, not a bit!

**ThierryCarter** · June 15th, 2012, 08:36 AM

very funny, people. I think these programs are rather used for avoiding the need to sit around waiting for the weed to grow. It's a system that records the growth and you just need to review it once a day. What's wrong with that? If the employee does his work (not sitting at home, alone in his bedroom "working") there is no need for paranoia. I think the loudest people against this are those who fear that their days of freelance procrastination are over.

**ThierryCarter** · June 15th, 2012, 08:37 AM

Oh, and sorry for resurrecting this old thread, but I like the batman pic.

I think this topic is becoming more and more popular, with the virtual workspace and workforce getting bigger by the day. Maybe it would deserve a new thread, too!

**Niclo Iste** · June 15th, 2012, 01:41 PM

Spy programs are a poor solution for a manager/supervisor who should be keeping an eye on his workers and their production rates. Rather than waste time and resources maintaining monitoring software they should hire a replacement.

Side note. In between tickets or pauses in a work project I "surf the net" for work related input such as IT reports, security bulletins, and tech news. I'm sure the shoddy manager who needs a spy program to make up for his deficiencies wouldn't be able to discern that I'm actually looking up data to help me better do my job. It's a nice concept but it's a tool useless to those who do their job well and dangerous in the hands of ones who don't know how to manage properly. Maybe I'm old fashioned but results should give a good idea of if anyone is doing their job or not.

If one is serious about trimming the slack time off of employees one should implement proper measures and securities to prevent it from happening in the first place. Domain blocks, mail filters, firewalls, profile permissions in Active Directory, and much more. It's a lot easier to keep people in line if they don't have the opportunity to goof off in the first place.

**slgrieb** · June 15th, 2012, 10:16 PM

Increasingly, I suggest to my clients that they use OpenDNS, or another similar service and implement a white list for Internet usage. Obviously, you need to have some flexibility in the policy, but by and large restricting employee access to purely work related sites is simple and doesn't require time spent reviewing logs, etc. Unless you have to deal with a manager who regards reviewing this sort of stuff as a justification for their position

**slgrieb** · June 15th, 2012, 10:29 PM

Reviewing my earlier posts from lo, those many years ago, I'd just reiterate that all organizations need clear performance standards for employees and concentrate on them as a guideline for evaluating performance. That's still probably less expensive and more effective than having a Department of Brain Police. Gotta agree with Niclo.

Think I deserve a Necroposting Award for that:

**cookin chef** · June 18th, 2012, 01:47 PM

At my workplace...some things are restricted. Employees are free to go to facebook and other things during their breaks on separate computers in the break room. The main work office computers do have restriction and monitoring tools. I don't remember what they are called.

Since people bring their own personal cellphones/smartphones/personal laptops/tablets...well that's another issue. The company I do work for have setup a secondary wireless for guest access for people with their own wireless devices to use on their own time....How that is enforced? I don't know.