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Legality of monitoring remote employees in their homes with a webcam during work hours
- Thread starter HylianSeven
- Start date
Yeah, I'm also a developer so I'm always thinking "make sure I get all my tickets done by this sprint, and then pull more in if I have time" so I have a sense for how much I should be doing and how much progress I've made on it. I understand that this wouldn't work for all fields
Yeah, I wouldn't be okay with this and would just leave any company that does this.
Maybe tell your manager that you would seriously consider leaving if they move forward. If others do the same (or just say nothing and leave anyway), it might make them rethink their dumb plan.
Maybe tell your manager that you would seriously consider leaving if they move forward. If others do the same (or just say nothing and leave anyway), it might make them rethink their dumb plan.
If you trust your employees enough to let them work at home than trust them enough to not put a camera in thier face.
They should just do what every other company does and just discipline and fire employees who don't do the work they're paid to do.
Just download a video program that splices in a video to your webcam feed. Record yourself for about 3 hours of actual working, and then just play that on loop. They're not going to watch you the entire day. This way you actually get a free day off and they think you're working.
Win win.
Pay me money now.
Win win.
Pay me money now.
It doesn't but shouldn't a company that is paying you to be productive at home have some way to verify that you are actually working and not stealing their money? Not saying this is the right way.
It sounds like a case where the customer complained about one thing, and now the higherups are jumping to treat their employees like shit in order to please their customer. It's stupid and incredibly short sighted.
Fuck places like these.
What if you do the work required in half the time you get paid for but dick off the rest of the time on the companies dime?
Why should anyone care if they're doing the job they're paid to do?
If you are being paid per job that's fine but if you are being paid per hour that's different. My apologies for not making that clear. I was just thinking of a scenario that happened regularly when I worked for Ameritech, where rout managers would rush through jobs, finish them before noon, then would work a second job or go home and sleep while on the clock.
That is pretty much the same for me although ours go idle after five minutes, even at home I go idle a few times a day (toilet breaks etc) but my management don't care, they know that I'm not a robot and as long as I do my core hours every day nothing is said.
They can do this by verifying that the job you're supposed to be doing is getting done.
What the fuck is the problem with evaluating employees based on that productivity? Jesus Christ.
If this came from the clients, then that means the clients had a reason to believe the billable hours were being manipulated.
There's a software company that, during my time interviewing, told me you needed to ask permission to use the washroom.... You better believe I nope'd right out of that job.
This. You have to be able to trust your employees, and if they arent up to scratch, you let them go.
OP
OP
Ok, so you are paid hourly, get the job done in half the time it takes, but submit it when it's due by. You are technically half the time. Does a company have the right to make sure this is not happening?
No? They budgeted a certain amount of time for you to get it done, and you got it done in that amount of time.
I think the reality is that a lot of employees, remote or not, can actually get their work done with plenty of time to spare. Of course there's no benefit to letting bosses know that because then they'll just dump more work on you, probably without any additional compensation.
And if this person was at the office, they would be delegated more work. This hypothetical person is ot taking half the time to do the work. I do think, in a situation like this, the employer has every right to know. Not saying spying through a webcam is it.
Okay, but if you're still getting done what you need to get done, what does it matter?
Have their been studies done on adverse affects of.... treating people like adults that prevents companies from doing it?
you might be surprised at the number of people who are on resetera at work right now without being delegated more work because no one notices even if you're in the office >.>
Just imagine working one day in the privacy of your living room. You make so little noise that your naked, underage teenage daughter walks through the living room not realizing you are there and the webcam is up and recording.
You call up work and say, "I'm really sorry, but you really need to delete the latest webcam recording of me working."
They reply, "We don't do that. We need the recordings to verify you are working while remote."
The police show up at your work building. "Why did we receive a report that you have a video of an underage girl?"
Why would a business expose themselves to that kind of liability?
You call up work and say, "I'm really sorry, but you really need to delete the latest webcam recording of me working."
They reply, "We don't do that. We need the recordings to verify you are working while remote."
The police show up at your work building. "Why did we receive a report that you have a video of an underage girl?"
Why would a business expose themselves to that kind of liability?
Would be extremely illegal in Sweden. You're not even allowed to use the cameras in a store to look at the staff unless you have extreme probable cause. As in, everytime this person works money goes missing. If I look in the cameras for something else and I see someone in the staff doing something wrong, I'm not even allowed to use that as grounds for firing that person.
As long as you get your work completed, that would be the validation for productivity.
First thing I did when I got my work laptop was gimp the webcam and microphone.
Never trust that stuff.
I was an employee that was able to "blast process" work. There are certain people who don't understand that there is X work to do and when you finish there's downtime. If you're doing your job well it looks like you're not working for a chunk of time.
There's people that have what I like to call "butts in seats" mentalities. They would rather that the work get 90% done as long as they see everyone constantly working during their 9-5, instead of 100% of the work done by noon and then the afternoon is free time for other projects
Puritanical work culture.
Never trust that stuff.
I was an employee that was able to "blast process" work. There are certain people who don't understand that there is X work to do and when you finish there's downtime. If you're doing your job well it looks like you're not working for a chunk of time.
There's people that have what I like to call "butts in seats" mentalities. They would rather that the work get 90% done as long as they see everyone constantly working during their 9-5, instead of 100% of the work done by noon and then the afternoon is free time for other projects
Puritanical work culture.
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It's illegal.
Even IF they can get a legal permission to video monitor you they can never get one that allows them to monitor your home. Apart from private property laws, the mere possibility of the webcam filming your family passing behind you makes it a complete nonstarter. They would have to get written consent for all adults including from parents that filming their children is allowed.
In Europe this wouldn't even be a question.
Even IF they can get a legal permission to video monitor you they can never get one that allows them to monitor your home. Apart from private property laws, the mere possibility of the webcam filming your family passing behind you makes it a complete nonstarter. They would have to get written consent for all adults including from parents that filming their children is allowed.
In Europe this wouldn't even be a question.
CHECKMATE, BOSSES
oh, don't worry... i've got a system ;)