

Despite the reaction from faculty, the university administration had the right to do this in accordance with Harvard’s privacy policy however, the policy also dictates employees be informed shortly after or before a search. In 2013, there was an email monitoring scandal at Harvard University, where faculty members were shocked by the university administration searching through their emails to identify a media leak source in regards to a cheating scandal. Using company apps can also be subject to review: Through monitoring software, employers could look at instant messages including private channels or direct messages on Slack, Microsoft Teams messages, or screenshots taken of messages on services such as Apple’s iMessage, Twitter, or Facebook. Even without such written notice, employers usually have the legal right to monitor employee emails sent to and from their work email accounts.Įmployees should assume that any device or tool provided to them by their employer is a means that their company can (and will) see what they’re doing on it. Many employers strengthen their right to do this by providing their employees with written notice that their work emails aren’t private, and that all messages are monitored by the company. When employers use email monitoring, they track the communications that an employee has sent or received using their company email address. Shutterstock Email and instant message monitoring Read on to learn about how these technologies work, which businesses are using them, and how they are changing the landscape of the digital workplace. Employers are using digital time sheets, email monitoring, instant message monitoring, viewing calendars, browser activity, and other tools. found that eight of them tracked individual employees’ productivity.ĭue to many employees working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have ramped up how much they track their employees online. Statistics on the prevalence of employer monitoring are limited, but one New York Times analysis that examined 10 of the largest private employers in the U.S. California is considering a similar law that contains a variety of requirements, including notifying employees of the use of automated decision systems and limiting both automated decision systems and electronic monitoring.īuddy Punch researched ways companies are monitoring employee productivity, including methods such as old-school surveillance and new-age activity logging. Earlier this year, a law on employer email, phone, and internet monitoring went into effect in the state of New York, requiring private-sector employers to provide all their employees with notice of their electronic monitoring practices in a place that is “conspicuous” by the time they are hired.
