AFFIRMATIVE — EMPLOYMENT — WORKPLACE SPYING — SIGNIFICANCE 282

WORKPLACE SPYING HURTS WORKER PRODUCTIVITY

SURVEILLANCE DAMAGES EFFICIENCY AND CREATIVITY

Jeffrey Rosen, associate professor at the George Washington University Law School, The New York Times April 30, 2000, SECTION: Section 6; Page 46; TITLE: The Eroded Self // acs-EE2001

The inhibiting effects on creativity and efficiency are palpable. Surveys of the health consequences of monitoring in the workplace have suggested that electronically monitored workers experience higher levels of depression, tension and anxiety and lower levels of productivity than those who are not monitored. Unsure about when, precisely, electronic monitoring may take place, employees will necessarily be far more guarded and less spontaneous, and the increased formality of conversation and e-mail can make communication less efficient. Moreover, spying on people without their knowledge is an indignity. It fails to treat its objects as fully deserving of respect, and treats them instead like animals in a zoo, deceiving them about the nature of their own surroundings.

MONITORING WORKERS HARMS THEM AND PRODUCTIVITY

Liz Stevens, KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE Staff writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 6, 1999, SECTION: NEWS Pg. A-1 TITLE: Careful! Your boss may be eavesdropping; Two-thirds of U.S. businesses spy on employees, study finds // acs-EE2001

A 1990 University of Wisconsin study showed that monitored workers have significantly higher rates of severe fatigue and depression than nonmonitored workers.

And probably a more adversarial relationship with management, Givens says.

"I can't think of a better way to create low morale than a ubiquitous monitoring situation," she says. "If you're being monitored every hour of the day, there's really not a shred of dignity you can take from your work situation."