The Electronic Leash

The dream of working from home is a possibility today for many more employees than ever before, thanks to technology.  And thanks to technology, working from home may be just as confining as working in a regular office.  In fact, big brother may be bigger at home than at the office.  (Click here for an article in the Wall Street Journal.)

There are companies that now provide electronic monitoring of tens of thousands people who work at home.  At present, these workers are, for the most part, home-based independent contractors.  Regular employers have been slow to jump on a bandwagon that still feels too invasive.

The companies that monitor independent contractors take photos of the workers’ computer screens at random, count keystrokes and mouse clicks, detect angry or raised voices on the phone, listen for children crying in the background, and put through calls so fast that taking a bathroom break becomes a challenge.  As you can imagine, this kind of technology doesn’t go down well with everyone.

It’s predicted, however, that with a growing desire to telecommute amid burgeoning gas prices, more and more workers–independent contractors and regular employees–may experience the electronic leash.  Think about it.  When telecommuting comes up, what’s one of the first concerns of managers?  The fear that employees will slack off.  They’ll play Blackjack, watch YouTube.  They’ll spend too much time with kids who’re still at home.

If gas prices continue to soar and employees, particularly younger ones, continue to want to set their own hours, being closely monitored at home may become an acceptable tradeoff.  If so, one’s home may become just another corporate cubicle.

If you’re considering more telecommuting and more monitoring, there are at least a couple of issues that require legal advice.  Talk with you lawyer about wage-hour issues (making sure employees are properly paid) and about privacy issues (making sure the monitoring isn’t too invasive). 

And there’s one more issue that should be on your radar.  Don’t think for a minute that you can convert a bunch of employees into independent contractors by sending them home to work.