Technological advances have presented employers with sophisticated employee monitoring and some real ethical gray areas. Although most of this monitoring is designed to enhance worker productivity, it creates concern over worker privacy. What do managers have the right to know about employees and how far can they can go to observe employee behavior on the job? Consider the following: 

• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) monitored the personal e‐mail of several employees who had expressed concerns about the safety of FDA‐approved medical devices for 2 years. The employees claim that monitoring violated their rights and whistle‐blower laws. An FDA spokesperson responded that FDA employees are reminded when they log on to a government computer they have “no reasonable expectation of privacy.

• Harvard University searched the e‐mail accounts of 16 faculty deans in an attempt to determine who had leaked details of a cheating scandal to the media. This was in violation of Harvard’s policy that required notification when searching faculty e‐mails.

• Des Moines Public Schools fired the superintendent after a search of her e‐mail account revealed sexually explicit e‐mails sent by the married superintendent to her lover using her school e‐mail account, iPad, and laptop. The superintendent claimed that the search violated her right to privacy. The school district claimed that she violated the district’s technology policy. The dispute is working its way through the court system. 

• CareerBuilder reports that 39 percent of employers look at applicants ’ social media sites and 43 percent have rejected candidates based on content of those sites.

• Employee ID badges with radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology can track employee movements including the timing and location of breaks and even who they encounter and speak with during the day.

Ethical questions: 

When does an employer’s need for information about employee performance cross over the line and interfere with a worker’s right to privacy? Is any type of monitoring acceptable as long as employees are notified ahead of time that they will be monitored?