Businesses are reshaping with some innovative yet automated software to strategically align processes with technology. Among those time-tracking software programs, some are on top for better communication, monitoring, and mapping workplace activities in a secure, safe, and productive environment. For this reason, every state around the world must follow the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) or the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). But is using employee tracking software legal? Or if you disregard employee monitoring laws, what will happen?
What are these rules, and how are they used to ensure privacy at the workplace with a friendly environment rather than surveillance and strict pressures?
As an owner and employee, you must be aware of employee monitoring rules, so let’s dissect the article so you don’t put your business at risk.
What is the Electronic Communication Privacy Act?
Globally, every company is subject to the rules and regulations of the ECPA, allowing employers to use employee monitoring tools. Yet, in the absence of awareness and clarity regarding employee monitoring regulations, businesspeople are inadvertently breaking the law, which costs them fines and damages their reputations quickly. The real-world applications of this software include policy protection, increased accountability for task management, profitability, and worktime activity tracking.
Is Employee Monitoring A Legal Act?
So far, I’m sure you clearly understand that employee monitoring is a legal course of action under laws to keep companies and employees safe from any damage. So, the most important matter of fact is you need to understand the employee monitoring laws rather than figuring time cards, video surveillance, and dealing with non-compliance. The legality of various monitoring techniques is specified and unambiguous in the USA, Canada, the European Union, Australia, Canada, Japan, China, and other nations.
Companies do this to ensure gross profits, security, and compliance with company policies. According to a survey by ExpressVPN, major stakeholders are using monitoring apps while many still feel reluctant about their usage, i.e., 78% and 59% ratios, respectively. This big number indicates that electronic privacy and transparency are still mistrusted.
Quickview: What are the Benefits Of Employee Monitoring?
- One can easily track employees’ performance to boost productivity.
- To make policies and ensure compliance management with efficiency.
- To track resources and revenues.
- Monitor employees during working hours to identify bottlenecks or delay funnels.
- Companies are using tracking apps for increased protection, to ensure security, and to avoid the risk of losing data or cybersecurity threats.
- These apps are used to detect fraud, time wasters, and policy violators.
- Industry to Industry compliance management adhering to strict financial, health, and legal laws.
- To prevent unauthorized access to the company’s internal matters.
- To conduct automated invoicing, payroll, and audits.
- To monitor remote, freelance, and hybrid mode projects, especially when outsourcing, to ensure engagement and communication across the team.
Employee Monitoring Methods Authorized By ECPA
Some common employee monitoring methods include
- Computer Tracking, where employers observe real-time activity, log-in and log-out times, working hours, computer activity, apps, and websites scrolled or visited.
- Recording keystrokes in order to gauge productivity and identify security threats is known as keystroke monitoring.
- Social media monitoring to know if employees are scrolling social media, violating work ethics.
- Video surveillance – Using workplace cameras.
- Tracking phone communication and voicemails, particularly in call centers.
- Sighting laptop or desktop devices, tracking internet usage under BYOD policies.
- GPS tracking is highly used by logistics or courier companies to monitor employees’ locations.
Understanding Invasive vs. Non-Invasive Employee Monitoring
Employee monitoring is taken under two categories: invasive or non-invasive. Invasive monitoring is essential for tracking employees without their consent, such as using legitimate software, recording personal messages or calls without users’ agreement, visualizing activity after work, and capturing keystrokes or screenshots. This is a clear breach of privacy laws in the US, UK, EU, Canada, etc. To avoid legal and ethical penalties or consequences, employers should hold non-invasive screenings to have clarity, employees’ consent, and transparency.
| Types of Monitoring | Structure | Privacy Fallbacks | Effects |
| Invasive Monitoring | No agreement or consent taken. | Secret keystroke logging, screenshots, and tracking calls or messages | Breaching privacy laws globally. |
| Non-Invasive Monitoring | Transparent and consensual on tracking | No secret roots; instead, legal monitoring and tracking is done | Boost morale and the compliance system |
Employee Monitoring Laws: U.S.A. Privacy Acts
In the USA, all companies are bound by privacy laws, and violating them is so dangerous. Who wants to risk the integrity just to monitor employees in secret rooms? The rules according to ECPA, SCA, and NLRA say:
- Business owners can track only those who have provided digital devices and, for legitimate reasons, comply with all employees using them.
- Employers can only have access to emails provided on company accounts, and invading personal emails is illegal. So, using the company’s server, you can monitor messages on the company server.
- Employees’ rights must be recognized, so time tracking or camera keystroke surveillance must not interfere with labor rights.
- Certain laws mandate that employers get consent from workers and notify them of monitoring practices to ensure transparency.
- Unauthorized monitoring of private messages, personal devices, or after-hours activities may be a violation of federal privacy standards.
GDPR Monitoring Laws In Europe
Some EU countries ensure that monitoring acts must be employee- and employer-friendly, such as
- Written agreement or consent to inform employees about the tracking tools that employers are going to use. Listing the tracking apps, such as email, internet, computer activity, website data, etc.
- A legitimate business needs to prevent a data breach.
- Employers are responsible for covert surveillance.
- On request from employees, data stored or taken must be deleted or corrected.
- After-work hours tracking is restricted regardless of the type of monitoring you’re using.
- Workplace cameras must be visible.
- Must have consent for employment contracts.
Employee Monitoring Laws in the UK, Canada, Australia, and Japan
- In the UK, the GDPR data protection act has been enforced since 2018. And companies are responsible for providing legitimate business for monitoring.
- Canada has systematically organized data according to state and provincial laws, such as PIPA is implemented in British Columbia and Alberta, while Bill 64 secures communication in Quebec. These laws say that monitoring must be open consent between both parties.
- Australia has a set of state policies but no federal legislation to apply. The provisional government says transparency and proportionality in the workplace are fundamental.
- In Japan, employers abide by the “Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI)”, which ensures written consent for overzealous monitoring.
Final Thoughts
To maintain compliance with labor laws, all businesses around the world are liable to meet compliance standards. One of those is employee monitoring laws that must be taken to track your employees, whether remote, freelancer, or hybrid. The fundamental and legal rights state that companies can use these tracking apps, but with consent and improved security. The rules across the US, Canada, Germany, Japan, China, the EU, Africa, Australia, or elsewhere are the same to secure employees and employers for better organizational levels. In case companies try to adopt an invasive mode of monitoring, then serious consequences will be seen, such as lawsuits, heavy penalties, or losing their brand or clients.
Make sure you’re confident about monitoring laws, tools, and purposes to achieve prominent results in revenues and growth.
