Big Brother Bosses Bad For Business

Secret monitoring of employees is a "folly" that affects the business bottom line and is bad for productivity and workers health, according to a leading UK safety magazine.

'Stop snooping', a report by Hazardsmagazine revealed that secret cameras installed in a female locker room used by staff to change were discovered by workers - the employer claimed that the cameras were "installed in the wrong room".

In another incident a UK Hospital claimed that the police advised them to install "secret" cameras, which were subsequently discovered by workers, to investigate alleged mail tampering. Police denied giving any such advice.

The Hazards report showed companies in the UK and other countries are listening in on telephone calls, measuring toilet breaks, monitoring emails, internet use and computer work and using CCTV, hidden cameras, smart cards and tracking devices to keep an eye on people at work.

The largely unregulated rise in drug, alcohol and health testing of employees, and the real threat of genetic screening being used to 'weed-out' unsuitable staff or applicants, has led authorities to flag the introduction of a proposed code to protect the privacy of information about workers' health.

The UK Trades Union Congress has welcomed the code, but wants to see it toughened-up.

"Big Brother bosses do not get the best out of employees. Staff who are being snooped on are less productive and less healthy," says TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber. "There has been an unregulated boom in the intrusive and ineffective drug, drink and health testing of employees. The positive step to tackle this needs to be toughened up to make sure tests are only used when absolutely necessary."

"Consultation and participation are not dirty words, they are the key to a productive workplace." says Hazards Editor Rory O'Neill. "If employers want to know what their staff are doing they should ask them.

"Snooping isn't just taking liberties, it's pure folly. Productivity goes down, accidents, ill-health and sick leave go up and the workforce feel more like felons than valued employees,"

'Stop snooping' draws on a US study showing that monitored workers suffered more work dissatisfaction, depression, extreme anxiety, exhaustion, strain injuries and neck problems than unmonitored workers.

It also includes research showing that a lack of autonomy at work is a major cause of work-related stress and strains, heart diseases and sickness.

The full Hazards report is available online at www.hazards.org/privacy

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Last modified: Tuesday, 15-Nov-2005 20:37:36 EST