Is Your Boss Checking Up On You

Tracy Moon was quoted in the August 17, 2014 article "Is your boss checking up on you?" that was published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  

With today's company-issued GPS-enabled smartphones and tablets, employers now have the technology to monitor there employees every move.

Companies say that tracking employees can be good for their business.  Tracking can help a company be more productive and competitive.  

Currently, there are few laws and court cases to help employers understand the limits leaving some gray areas for protection of employees' privacy.

The same technologies that help companies create efficiencies can put them at risk.

"The technology is useful," says Tracy.  But "sometimes there's no clear direction on what is lawful."

Tracy adds that most states, including Georgia, do not have laws that apply to tracking workers, so the main legal protection is employees' expectation of privacy, though past cases have shown companies have broad license to monitor employees.

Invasion of privacy isn't necessarily the biggest concern for employers.  

A bigger risk could be the chance for a discrimination lawsuit based on collected data that reveals, for example, an employee's religion by logging their attendance at a mosque, synagogue or church.