Electronic Ethics

C. Decrease Theft from Employer, Other Employees

D. Protect Against Workplace Violence

Raytheon employees posting defamatory data on Net

Disgruntled employees defaming company on Net

III. Reasons Against Employee Monitoring

When George Orwell wrote about a giant screen in each person's home that could monitor their every movement and activity, he equated Big Brother with the government. Increasingly, however, it is not the government but rather our employers that are spying on individuals, and they are doing it often with the employees' permission and knowledge. This research considers employee monitoring, particularly electronic monitoring, and its ramifications in the workplace.

One of the key reasons given for monitoring employees electronically is to improve employee productivity (Rice 83). Employers who use this

. . .
expressing an opinion) do so at their own risk and without protection from possible tort action (Deck 6). Reasons Against Employee Monitoring Despite the strong reasons that employers have provided in favor of employee monitoring, privacy advocates argue that monitoring violates the rights of employees to privacy, and that the right to privacy extends even to the workplace. Employers who are seeking to implement a monitoring program need to put their policies in writing and inform all employees of the policies. Those who have particularly harsh or strict guidelines should make all job applicants aware of the guidelines as well since it will affect their decision whether or not to take the job. The greater argument against employee monitoring is that it can have a deleterious effect on employee morale. This is particularly true since most employees consider that their performance should be the overriding standard against which they are judged, and if they write personal e-mail or make personal phone calls, but they still get their job done (or stay late on those occasions when they have spent time on personal business), the personal business they conduct on so-called company time should simply be a non-issue. These employees
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Postal Service, Increasingly Internet, Mishra Crampton, Log Research, Monitoring Despite, Microsoft Excel, Employee Monitoring, Moral/Ethical Considerations, Reporting Act, Ramifications Legally, employee monitoring, phone calls, rice 83, personal phone, video surveillance, workplace violence, personal phone calls, reasons employee monitoring, reasons employee, employee privacy, internet service providers, keystroke monitoring, software programs, surveillance corporate spying, personal computer workstation,
Approximate Word count = 2685
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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