Monitoring Employees Electronically

Whether they know it or not, employees are rarely alone on the job. "Businesses are deploying a battery of high-tech gadgets to keep track of employees in office cubicles, factories and hospitals and on the road. Nine out of 10 companies engage in workplace surveillance -- above all, monitoring computer use -- according to a 2005 survey. "Employees should go to work assuming that Big Brother is going to read over their electronic shoulder when they're sitting at the computer," said Nancy Flynn, executive director of the ePolicy Institute in Columbus, Ohio. She and the American Management Association cooperated on last year's survey of more than 500 U.S. employers. Among the findings: . . "