Electronic Monitoring Vs. Health Concerns 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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