Untitled Essay, Research Paper

Electronic Monitoring vs. Health Concerns

Is privacy and electronic monitoring in the work place an issue that

is becoming a problem? More and more employees are being monitored today then ever before

and the companies that do it aren’t letting off. While electronic monitoring in the work

place may be the cause of increased stress levels and tension, the benefits far exceed the

harm that it may cause.

Employees don’t realize how often electronic monitoring happens in

their work place. An estimated twenty million Americans are subjected to monitoring in

their work place, commonly in the form of phone monitoring, E-mail searches, and searching

through the files on their hard drive (Paranoid 435). A poll by MacWorld states that over

twenty-one percent of all employees are monitored at work, and the larger the company, the

higher the percentage (Privacy 445). Unaware of this electronic monitoring, most employees

often are not working at their peak performance due to this type of scrutiny.

The majority of Americans believe that electronic monitoring should not

be allowed. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis states that of all of the freedoms

that Americans enjoy, privacy "is the right most valued by civilized men (Privacy

441)." A poll taken by Yankelovich Clancy Shulman for Time, states that ninety-five

percent of Americans believe that electronic monitoring should not be allowed (Privacy

444). Harriet Ternipsede, who is a travel agent, gave a lengthy testimonial on how

electronic monitoring at her job caused her undue stress and several health problems

including muscle aches, mental confusion, weakened eyesight, severe sleep disturbance,

nausea, and exhaustion. Ternipsede was later diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Immune

Dysfunction Syndrome (Electronic 446). A study done by the University of Wisconsin found

that eighty-seven percent of employees subjected to electronic monitoring suffered from

higher stress levels and increased tension while only sixty-seven percent of those

employees that were not subjected to monitoring had those same symptoms (Paranoid 436).

While it is obvious that most employees are against electronic

monitoring, the use of electronic monitoring contributes to increased stress levels in

employees. While the advantages derived from electronic monitoring far outweigh the

disadvantages. Through the use of employee monitoring, companies can save money in overall

operations cost by weeding out those employees who don’t pull their weight, and cut down

on employee theft. By monitoring employees, it is possible to measure their performance

and see if they are meeting standards. By getting rid of those employees who don’t meet

standards the burden of daily tasks is lifted on every other employee in that department.

Eighty to ninety percent of business theft is internal (Paranoid 432). Through the use of

employee monitoring, the amount of money lost to theft can be dramatically reduced.

While electronic monitoring in the work place may contribute to

employee stress, the benefits are far greater then the disadvantages. Not only do

companies save money from employee theft, sabotage, and vandalism, employees can feel more

confident that their coworkers who don’t pull their own weight will be terminated. When

the company and the employees both benefit from increased profits I would call this a

win-win situation. If the savings are passed to the customer, you could even have a

win-win-win situation.

Works Cited

CQ Researcher. "Privacy in the Workplace." Writing and Reading Across the

Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard Rosen. 6th ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.

441-445.

Ternipsede, Harriet. "Is Electronic Monitoring of Workers Really Necessary?"

Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard Rosen. 6th ed.

New York: HarperCollins, 1997. 446-448.

Whalen, John. "You’re Not Paranoid: They Really Are Watching You." Writing and

Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard Rosen. 6th ed. New York:

HarperCollins, 1997. 430-440.

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