European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                How private is the workplace by Elizabeth Lee Gwinnett a daily news t s a monday morning. You walk into the office log onto your computer fire off a jocular message to a co worker about your weekend adventures and Settle in for a Day of work. Five minutes later your Boss drops by your desk and makes a reference to the contents of what you thought was a private message. Suddenly it s no laughing matter. And by the Way computer programs that enable supervisors to read their employees electronic mail can also enable them to keep track of How much time workers spend completing a task How Many keystrokes they make and How Many mistakes occur. Electronic monitoring in t the Only Way employers keep track of what employees do on the Job though. Telephone Call accounting records the number of Calls an employee makes the numbers dialled and the duration of the conversation. Service observation enables supervisors to listen in on Telephone conversations. As technological advances have increasingly automated the office they have also generated questions in the United states about privacy in the work place american employers have embraced new technologies As a Way to More efficiently manage the work process. But those same programs can take away an employees dignity and autonomy some employees allege. The debate Over balancing the rights of employer and worker has taken on orwellian overtones As opponents of electronic monitoring contend that the new technology puts big brother in the work place. Opponents say the technologies have created an electronic sweatshop in some offices and Point to the abuses that sometimes result they raise concerns about increased stress a declining Quality of life at work and the fairness of the monitoring and the Way its results Are employed. Businesses that use the technology say it enables them to streamline the work process to plan workloads and get an unbiased measure of the Quality of an employee s work. Service observation frequently used not technological advances such As computer mail and Telephone Call accounting have raised questions about the amount of privacy in the work place. On Long distance operators airline reservation agents and telemarketers helps companies ensure that workers treat customers with Courtesy and give them Correct information. Telephone Call accounting can help companies keep track of costly Lon distance Calls and perhaps reduce the personal Calls made by employees. The debate Over privacy in the work place does no to Stop with electronic monitoring though. Advances in medical technology have opened up new areas of concern As employers have gained the ability to perform aids tests genetic screening polygraph exams and drug tests. Employers can delve into a worker s credit history. Bosses have pried in the private lives of 79 percent of . Workers by asking inappropriate personal questions according to a january poll by the National Consumers league. Quot there has been a change in attitudes about privacy in the work place and it s been for the worse Quot says Lewis Maltby coordinator of the american civil liberties unions National task Force on civil liberties in the work place a ten years ago if you had gone out and told the american Public that they were going to have to take a urine test so their Boss would know if they a been smoking marijuana on the weekends they would have told you you were crazy. Now people Are doing it routinely. I done to know what a going to come next. It seems like people will do anything to protect their  workers traditionally have not had a right to privacy on the Job. Only in recent years have moves toward such a right occurred according to a report on electronic supervision prepared by the congressional office of technology assessment. As workers confront employers both on the Job and in the courts about privacy issues ideas about employees rights Are changing. Some employees have won Large jury awards in privacy cases although the Law provides Little Protection for the vast majority of workers on privacy issues Maltby says. Unions Are continuing to push for restrictions on the use of technologies like electronic monitoring although most . Workers Are not covered by collective bargaining agreements. Federal legislation has restricted the use of lie Detector tests on the Job. A Bill now before Congress would prohibit the secret electronic monitoring of workers. Some 10 million . Workers Are evaluated by electronic monitoring according to a february report by 9 to 5, National association of working women. As office automation increases the numbers of workers subject to monitoring will also grow according to the Ota report. The Type of worker checked on will also change. Clerical workers now make up the largest group of those monitored but advances in technology have made it possible to Survey the work habits of managerial and professional employees As Well. Much of the debate Over electronic monitoring has entered around possible abuses of the technology. The privacy for Consumers and workers act the Bill now before Congress would require employers to provide prior written notice of monitoring and to notify employees and Consumers when the technology is in use. Employers now listen in on conversations Between workers and the Public in industries like airline reservations and Long distance calling and in Federal agencies like the internal Revenue service and the social Security administration. Employers say they use service observations to ensure their workers Are courteous give Correct information and perhaps sell a product. Improvements in technology make in possible for them to listen without any signs that a third party is monitoring the conversation. That Lack of notice has led some to condemn the practice. Quot its a violation of the workers but also the Consumers. It greatly intensifies the stress on the workers and does nothing to improve the Quality of service which is generally the argument that a Given for using i. Says Gaye Williams Mack a spokeswoman for the comm Matio workers of America. Quot this is an ineffective management tool and it s a tool used More to intimidate workers than for anything in if Lite. Page 16 a a a the stars and stripes saturday april 21,1990