Case Study Tracking Workers Through Technology

Employers are increasingly using technology to track workers. Nurses at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, carry radio-frequency identification tags that allow their movements to be tracked. Management said the system was used to ensure the quality of patient care, not keep track of nurses who are on breaks. The town of Babylon, NY, installed global positioning system technology in most of its 250 vehicles, including snow plows and dump trucks.

In New York City, the Bloomberg administration has devoted more than $18 million toward technology to keep track of when city employees come and go, and one agency requires its workers to scan their hands each time they enter and leave the workplace. In New York City, the use of hand scanners is part of CityTime, an effort by the Office of Payroll Administration to automate timekeeping. CityTime will be able to record attendance and leave requests, collect time forms automatically, coordinate timekeeping with the citys payroll system, and allow workers and their supervisors to monitor time, attendance, and leave online. A spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg said the timekeeping project would make payroll administration more efficient. The use of scanners makes it easier for employees to file timesheets and saves the city personnel costs.

Identification devices has supplanted the use of drug tests and polygraph exams in concerns about workplace privacy. New technologies are raising concerns about the control of personal information.

Discussion Questions:

1. How do you feel about the potential privacy violations these new devices may bring into the workplace?

2. What procedures should organizations put in place to ensure privacy and personal data safety? Develop a model policy and specific security procedures so that employees personal information will not be at risk.