Topic Exploration Group #5: Surveillance In The Workplace, Facebook Passwords, Employee Productivity, And The Employer-Employee Relationship.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamespoulos/2012/03/22/employers-demanding-facebook-passwords-arent-making-any-friends/

      With this blog post, I am introducing an entirely new topic: the surveillance of employees and the effects it has on the company that employs them. As technology advances, many companies are realizing that they can use all of this new technology to help them observe their employees and use the data gained from observing them in various was to prevent theft and increase productivity across the board. But do the costs of the systems outweigh the benefits? Such systems do, after all, decrease the privacy of employees. A camera pointed at a manager as they work in their office might make the manager angry and stressed, decreasing their productivity and the productivity of the employees they manage.

      To help further explore this point, consider the situation as outlined in the link above. As the link explains, many employers are asking their employees for not only their Facebook accounts, but also their Facebook passwords. Many employees consider this a gross breach of privacy rights and the employer-employee relationship. As the article explains, it makes people feel like they are handing something extremely personal over, like their house keys, in order to let their employer rummage around in their private space.

      My personal opinion is that anything that unnecessarily makes the employees mad at an employer is unequivocally a bad thing. As for whether or not an employer should be allowed require an employee to give them their Facebook login? I don’t really see what is gained by such a requirement that is not lost to productivity and possible theft from angry employees. Employees generally can understand why cameras are needed in the workplace and they won’t get too angry if they are installed; they generally can’t understand why Facebook logins are needed and will likely get angry if they are required. The drop in moral that comes from taking such actions honestly does not seem worth the benefits, here.

So, what do others think about this matter? Is it okay for employers to require that employees give them their Facebook logins? What is the line in the employer-employee relationship and what potential actions can an employer take that crosses that line?

-Noel Hansen.