Technology

Roboboss is Watching You

By Noel Hester

Behind the hype of the information age is a sinister side where workplace surveillance robs employees of all privacy and dignity. Sometimes, though, it provides welcome security.

Imagine the boss watching you work on a palm pilot as he strolls off to the nineteenth hole at his country club.

With state-of-the-art WAP technology, hand-held computers with Internet access and sophisticated workplace monitoring systems, this isn't science fiction.

The arrival of the Internet means we can now bank, buy or barter from the comfort of our home computer or workstation. But there is a darker side to the information revolution that gives unscrupulous employers the means to monitor every second of our working day - and even our private lives.

State Rail Snooping Draws False Conclusion

In October last year State Rail suspended 10 employees after monitoring them - over a period of three months - through the use of duty travel passes. The pass has a magnetic strip which is read at the ticket barrier and allows access to the rail network. But it also allowed State Rail to identify employees and track their movements.

Bob Barker, an ASU delegate in the payroll section of State Rail where these employees work, says management wrongly assumed these workers were skiving and going home early.

'At payroll we start early. The barriers are open from 9 at night till 6 in the morning so when we arrive we walk straight through. There's no record that you're at work,' he said.

'Surveillance was also carried out through the locks and doors. On the security doors you have to have a pin number to gain access. If two people arrive together they go in together. Some don't have to punch in their number. So if you go out and then come back later management can say that you arrived at work at say 10 o'clock.'

'The information they collect doesn't give a true picture of what happens.'

Of the 10 people involved, five were completely exonerated. They had legitimate reasons that State Rail didn't dispute. Three were given final warnings but only because they had filled out forms incorrectly. Two were dismissed but are appealing.

Bob Barker says this over-the-top Big Brother exercise caused months of fear and anxiety for a whole section of the organisation.

'No one was told about it. It only came to light after someone was sacked. No one was told they had a problem and needed to be counselled. Family lives were disrupted,' he said.

'Management have given a commitment they didn't do it to anyone else. But that raises the question of why these people were picked on in the first place.'

No Place to Hide in a Call Centre

It's in call centres - the fastest growing employment area of the economy - that we can see most clearly staff surveillance and its potential for abuse. In that sector there is widespread concern about how monitoring can be used to harass and intimidate staff.

Call centres use ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) software to channel incoming calls to an available operator (or agent.) This software is efficient and sophisticated and growing more so all the time. It can track and time calls, check on key strokes and log each and every conversation between staff and caller. Time spent away from the desk - at breaks, even visits to the toilet - can be tightly controlled.

The ACD software has real-time messages associated with each agent. These messages indicate when an agent signs in and out, initiates an incoming or out going call and enters after an agent is finished with a call (call wrap up). The software constantly tracks each agent's actual work and compares it to a schedule. The moment a discrepancy arises, the agent's name and the amount of time involved is noted and each notification and alarm is color-coded to show the nature of the problem. Supervisors can see an agent's status at any given moment and take action.

In the Shadow of 'the Tower'

Marios Elles, a call centre agent at Link Communications says this level of staff surveillance can turn work into a form of incarceration.

'Every aspect of your time is monitored. The information goes back to a central monitoring system - 'the tower'. From here the supervisor can see everything. So there is not just electronic surveillance but also visual,' he said.

'There is a 'reason code' which you must punch if you are doing anything else other than answering calls. For example reason 8 - taking a break. Reason 4 - going to the toilet. Reason 7 - talking to supervisor. If staff take too much time to finish a call it can lead to counselling or even disciplinary action.'

Marios says there is irony in a system designed to give more flexible service to the customer but that has the effect of imposing an assembly-line rigidity on employees.

'It's very difficult to communicate on the floor. You only get to talk to each other in breaks. And we are on the phones without a break for two hours. This creates an antisocial environment where morale tends to be low,' he said.

'It also means you can't offer great customer service. It's like being in front of a poker machine all day. You become desensitised to humans.'

When Cameras Protect

Workplace surveillance can play a protective role for some workers.

Alan Jones, a delegate at Sydney's Matthew Talbot hostel for the homeless says video cameras are a valued security tool for employees there.

'We sleep nearly 200 people - mainly the homeless. Seventy per cent have some psychological or substance abuse problem. The nights here can be nerve wracking. There are a few people we won't let in because they are violent and dangerous,' he said.

'We can monitor them in the lanes outside the hostel with the cameras and see who is causing disturbances. We feel exposed if the cameras break down. I hate the use of cameras elsewhere - in shops for example - but in a workplace like ours it enhances your wellbeing no end.'

Watching you Play

Bob Barker says if any electronic equipment is to be used to monitor more than access or for genuine security reasons than employees should be told.

'There are important privacy issues at stake. If you work for State Rail you are able to use your home and duty pass outside work hours. This means management can also track movements in your private life. With companies now warehousing and selling data you never know how this information could be used.'

Email is as Private as a Postcard

Communication between staff members by email is now a business norm. But don't kid yourself that only you have access to your email. Your email is not private and confidential. Third parties can easily gain access to it. This can occur when:

� emails are in transmission

� your managers override your personal password

� your IT Department intercepts transmissions

� deleted messages are retrieved

Remember sending offensive emails is no different to putting them on a notice board - you invite trouble. There are laws to protect workers from abusive video surveillance but, to date, nothing to protect privacy of the Internet and email in Australia. The NSW Labor Council is now trying to establish similar guidelines for electronic surveillance. The ASU is pushing in enterprise agreements the right for union activists to use email for union business.

   Visit ASU Services

  View entire issue - print all of the articles!

  Issue 46 contents

»	Carr Vows to Move on Casuals
»	NSW Government in Hot Seat Over Individual Contracts
»	Telstra Troubleshooter Bombs Stellar
»	Illegal immigrants Working Next Door to PM
»	Education Department Hit By Massive Fine
»	Victims Comp Changes Exclude Traumatised Worker
»	SOCOG Agrees: Ceremonies Not an Eisteddfod
»	Senate Guts 'Ships from Hell' Bill
»	Campaigners Seek Dissident Web Domains

»	The Soapbox
»	The Locker Room
»	Trades Hall
»	Tool Shed

»	The Real Big Fella
»	That's It For Labor
»	Join Australia's Gas Out
»	Tribute to Jennie

Notice Board
- Check out the latest events

Latest Issue

View entire latest issue
- print all of the articles!

Previous Issues

Subject index

Search all issues

© 1999-2000 Labor Council of NSW

LaborNET is a resource for the labour movement provided by the Labor Council of NSW

[ Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Credits ]

LaborNET is proudly created, designed and programmed by Social Change Online for the Labor Council of NSW