The primary reason for Workplace Surveillance, which is becoming increasingly common, is productivity. Managers want to ensure their employers are in fact doing work they are supposed to be doing. Organizations are using different instruments such as cameras and email intercepting software to monitor their employees and to keep a record of the software programs which have been run and download by them. As companies can face potential law suits because of employees who download software or other programs from different servers for example Kazaa can abuse copyrighted laws and with an increasing fear that unmonitored email programs can allow trade secretes and other important information to leak out incongruously. .
In 1996 Brent T. Johnson, Director of Fairfield, stated that employee monitoring will inhibit productivity by increasing job stress and declining morale and has potential impact on quality of work life. This problem can be solved by informing employers about company's policy concerning monitoring or they can establish a section which employers can do their private affairs at the break time. .
In conclusion, although Workplace Surveillance has its own drawback, it can prevent the company from legal actions in the courtroom, and hence prove to be cost effective. Therefore companies prefer to pay for Surveillance software rather than deal with lawsuits. Henceforth surveillance software, in my opinion, would prove to be a more efficient, safe and cost friendly method of monitoring one's employees.
