The Legal Side Of Employee Monitoring That You Should Know

Many businesses have started to adopt employee monitoring apps to keep administrative costs low, improve efficiency, and individual productivity. Whether you are a new manager and want to start using the apps or have applied them for some time, here is the legal side of the apps that you should know.

There are no federal laws prohibiting staff monitoring

Today, there are no federal laws that prohibit employers from monitoring their staff. Some human resources experts even argue that there is “right to privacy” for employees at work. However, companies that have contracts with federal administrations or public company have some monitoring rights restricted.

Though there are no fed laws on employees monitoring, individual states have passed legislations on employee monitoring. Before you can start monitoring the company's workers, it is important to consult the state laws and ensure to operate within the legal framework.

Monitoring computer activities

If you want to monitor something from staff such as emails, applications, or web surfing among others, the law allows it. Courts have in the past found that employers can rightfully read workers messages and emails. The only thing you require is a valid reason. Many employers use spyapps such as home tracking software so that they can gather specific information.

You can also monitor the staff on the network to establish what they are doing and whether the resources are being used well. However, if the staff will be coming to work and use their personal phones and tablets, you will need to create a legal entry point to allow monitoring. A good way to do this is developing a policy that indicates the personal computers will be subject to monitoring just the corporate computers.

Phone calls

If the employee is using a business-owned phone, the employer can listen to conversations taking place. However, you are only required to monitor calls if they are meant for quality control management. For example, you can listen to calls to establish whether clients are getting the right assistance or know if they are handled professionally. Note that even if the federal laws do not say anything about call monitoring, some states have instituted major restrictions. For example, California requires employers to install a beep on employee phones to signal the start of monitoring. Besides, the employer is required to hang up immediately if he/she realizes that the call was personal.

Location tracking

Whether you are using iPhone monitoring apps or direct GPS, the Federal laws are silent. To be on the safe side when tracking location, consider the following.

·       Make sure to provide tracking equipment such as phones. The expectations of privacy when the company owns the tracking devices are lower.

·       Ensure it is well included in the business operational policy. The policy covers staff consent because workers are required to have read and agreed to all the terms. In addition to this, it is a great idea to remind your staff that their location is always under watch when on duty.

·       Avoid non-business monitoring. Using the iphone5 apps to spy staff makes it possible even to follow them when they are not on duty. Such monitoring will be considered an infringement on personal privacy and the staff can sue.

Knowing the legal side of using monitoring apps is very important to stay on the right side of the law and avoid unnecessary legal suits by staff and labor organizations. Remember that you can only succeed in monitoring staff by selecting the right spy applications and easily installing them appropriately. Make sure to read through reviews, check for clients feedbacks and cost implications.