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Yes, Your Employer Is Likely Monitoring You. Here’s How.
If you’ve been known to take long lunch breaks, leave your laptop open while you clean the house, or you’ve been “quiet quitting”, listen up. Because your employer may be monitoring you. Enter: workplace surveillance. Which sounds like something fit for the CIA, but it's actually pretty common.
Since the pandemic started, one in three medium-to-large US companies has adopted some kind of worker surveillance system, according to the Wall Street Journal. And the New York Times has reported that one company even used it to determine paycheck amounts. Surprise: Employees aren’t loving it.
Wait, am I being monitored at work?
Possibly. According to Schellmann, it’s more common than you think. “I think a lot of folks feel like ‘Oh, it’s not happening to me,’" she said. “But I wouldn’t be so sure, because it’s really hard to tell.”
She said companies are using several ways to monitor employees. Think: Keyboard strokes, emails, time spent on certain websites, location data, and even mouse movement.
“One thing that I've seen over and over again that companies use is recording idle tracking,” she said. “If you stop using your mouse or you stop typing, after a certain amount of time it will sort of flag you as idle.” And it seems like employees might be catching on, given all of the TikTok videos of people trying to keep their Slack status as ‘available’.
View post on TikTok
Why are employers doing this?
It’s all in the name of productivity. And it’s increased since the pandemic started. "A lot of managers and employers got a little nervous,” Schellmann said. "[And have wondered,] ‘what are those people doing at home? How can we make sure they're working hard?’”
But the big question, Schellmann explained, is whether these surveillance metrics are a good way to measure productivity. Back in the old days of 2019, a manager could just look across the office and see you sitting at your desk. But in the WFH era, they need special tech like employee monitoring software to do that.
But as anyone who’s ever done their Amazon shopping while working will tell you, sitting at your desk or clicking around on your computer doesn’t necessarily equal vi. productivity. “We still think if we just see activity on a computer, they must be productive,” she said. But that’s not always the case: Somebody who might be a very productive salesperson might have 160 Zoom calls every week and only five in-person meetings. But somebody else who's also very successful in selling a product, might just have a lot of meetings in person and less emails.”
Is employee monitoring even legal?
It sure is. And you likely signed a document in your contract consenting to some level of workplace surveillance when you started your job. “Probably a hundred percent of people have initialed [the document] without understanding that anything that happens on a work computer belongs, in the United States, to the company,” Schellmann said.
Not sure if you’re being monitored? Schellmann’s advice: Assume you are. Treat your work computer like your company’s property. And use your personal computer for…personal use.
How is workplace surveillance impacting workplace morale?
It’s not doing employers any favors. “These tools may backfire in a lot of companies because employees do feel like they're not being trusted,” Schellmann said. “So they leave, and we all know that we have a talent shortage.” Looking at you, Great Resignation.
Schellmann also has some advice for companies using employee monitoring software: “A lot of companies might want to think about, ‘Can I do something [so] that employees will trust me and like to be at this company?’” she said. “I think surveying employees undermines that very intention.”
注释：
Surveillance：n
表示“ 监视，监督，监察，监测”，means "close observation of a person or group (usually by the police) “，如：The General Assembly decided to place the disputed territory under UN surveillance.联合国大会决定将该争议领土置于联合国的监督管理之下。
CIA：abbr.
表示“中央情报局 ”，means "Central Intelligence Agency “，如：There is evidence from CIA showing that Somalia pirates have been in active contact with other terrorist groups. 美国中情局有证据显示，索马里海盗与其它恐怖组织存在密切联系。
Pandemic: n；adj
1. n表示“ 大流行病 ”，means "an epidemic that is geographically widespread; occurring throughout a region or even throughout the world “，如：The flu was arrested before it became a pandemic.流感在变成流行病之前被控制住了。
2. adj表示“ 全国流行的 ”，means "epidemic over a wide geographical area; “，如：Vaccines effective against a pandemic virus are not yet available.目前仍没有可有效预防流感大流行的疫苗。
Paycheck: n
表示“ 薪水支票；工资”，means "a check issued in payment of wages or salary “，如：She deposits her paycheck every month. 她每月都把她的工资存起来。
Stroke: n; v
1. n表示“击打 ”，means "a hit, especially with (the edge of) a weapon “，如：He fell the tree with one stroke of the axe. 他一斧头就将树砍倒。
2. n表示“中风 ”，means " sudden attack of illness in the brain that can cause loss of the power to move, speak clearly, etc. “，如：I know a doctor. He is expert in curing stroke.我认识一个医生,专治中风。
3. v表示“击打 ”，means "strike a ball with a smooth blow “，如：She stroked the ball cleverly past her opponent. 她巧妙地一击把球打过对手。
4. v表示“抚摸,轻抚 ”，means "passing the hand gently over (a surface), usually again and again “，如：The cat likes being stroked.猫喜欢让人抚摸。
Idle: adj; v
1. adj表示“懒散的,无所事事的 ”，means " lazy, wasting time“，如：Idle folks have the least leisure.懒惰的人最没空闲。
2. adj表示“空闲的,闲着的 ”，means "not working or operating productively “，如：Being at an idle end,we often go to and look around the shops.闲来无事，我们常去逛逛商店。
3. v表示“ 虚度,闲逛 ”，means "waste time doing nothing “，如：We should not idle away our valuable time in the claver.我们不应该把宝贵的时间消磨在闲谈之中。
Flag: n; v
1. n 表示“旗,旗帜 ”，means " piece of cloth etc. with a design which represents a country, town, person, club, etc“，如：The flag was flown at half-staff. 那旗帜降了半旗。
2. v 表示“ 减退；枯萎”，means "droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness “，如：Her interest in music has begun to flag.她对音乐的兴趣逐渐淡薄了。
TikTok: n
字节跳动旗下短视频社交平台-抖音
Slack: adj
adj表示“ 懈怠的,马虎的”，means " dull; idle; neglectful “，如：She was shocked at the slack discipline in the school. 对于学校松弛的纪律她感到震惊。
In the name of：prep
表示“以 ... 的名义，作为…的代表 ”，means " serving to represent or typify “，如：All in the name of what I detested most: love! 一切都是以我最憎恨的名义：爱情。
WFH: v
表示“ 在家工作 ”，means " work from home“，如：Increasing numbers of people elect to work from home nowadays. 现在越来越多的人选择在家工作。
Click: v
1. 表示“ 发出咔嗒声“，means" make short sound"， 如：The door clicked shut. 门咔嗒一声关上了。He clicked his tongue to attract their attention. 他咂嘴发出啧啧声以吸引他们的注意。
2. 表示“ 成功", means " be a success”， 如：The comedy clicked. 这出喜剧轰动一时。The film has really clicked with young audiences.这部电影深受年轻观众的喜爱。
that’s not always the case:
表示“情况当然并非总是如此：如：But that is not always the case, sometimes the table can turn. 但事情并不一定都是这样,有时情况会发生改变。
Zoom: n
1. 表示“急剧上升 ”，means " a rapid rise“，如：The airplane' s zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
2. 表示“嗡嗡声 ”，means " a low humming noise “，如：We could hear the constant zoom of the cars on the highway. 我们能听到公路上汽车不断发出的嗡嗡声。
Consent：v; n
1. v 表示“同意; 赞成 ”，means "agree; give approval or permission “，如：Her father reluctantly consented to the marriage.她父亲勉强答应了这桩婚姻。
2. n 表示“ 同意；赞成”，means " agreement or permission“，如：By the common consent of critics, Shakespeare is the prince of character delineators.评论家一致公认莎士比亚是刻画人物的大师。
Initial: v；adj
1. v表示“签姓名的首字母于 ”，means "mark with one's initials “，如：She initialed a handkerchief and gave it to that young man. 她在手帕上绣上姓名的首字母，把它送给了那个年轻人。
2. adj表示“开始的；最初的 ”，means "occurring at the beginning “，如：After the initial cheers,the noise of the crowd began to die away as the group started playing. 开始的欢呼声结束以后，乐队开始演奏，人们的喧闹声也随之逐渐消失。
Backfire: v
表示“ 适得其反；产生事与愿违的结果”，means " come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect;“，如：Even our most carefully laid plans may backfire.
甚至我们的最周密安排的计划也可能产生适得其反的结果。A too-strict eating plan will backfire. 太严格的饮食计划会让你得不偿失。
Survey: v
表示“ 调查；审视；研究 ”，means " look over carefully or inspect“，如：They surveyed the damage inflicted by the storm. 他们调查了暴风雨造成的损失。
Undermine: v
表示“ 逐渐削弱；暗中损害；”，means "weaken or destroy gradually “，如：They will do anything to undermine their adversary's reputation. 他们会不择手段地去损害对手的名誉。
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