Is It Legal to Monitor Employees?

“Is it illegal to monitor employees‘ activity during work time with a keylogger?” In the UK, this is a question firstly asked by business owners and managers when they consult the lawyer about the labor law of using the monitoring keylogger software. These days, because of the financial crisis, more and more employers are using employee monitoring keylogger software to reduce malpractice within their companies so as to increase productivity.

The Necessity of Monitoring Employees in the Workplace

Not only is it not illegal, but it could also be argued that it is mandatory answered by Mike Huss, Peninsula’s Senior Employment Law Specialist.

If you do not spy on them with keylogger software, you do not know if they are doing any work; you do not know the quality or quantity; you do not know if they are visiting inappropriate internet sites, or you do not know if they are forwarding downloads from inappropriate sites to other staff who might feel harassed or threatened by them.

However, to make implementing keylogger legal, employees should be made aware that it is your policy to monitor them with a keylogger and you, in fact, do so and will take action against transgressors. The details should be spelled out in contracts of employment and the employee handbook as appropriate.

All in all, as a business owner or manager, it is your lawful rights to monitor your staff with a keylogger. Fortunately, for Mac OS users, Easemon keylogger for Mac is available today for you to stop the abuses of office computers. It is so far the best employee monitoring keylogger for Mac software to protect your business from malpractice.

Easemon is your top choice if you are looking for a professional Employee Monitoring Solution for Mac OS X.

Legal Ways of Monitoring Employees and Preventing Internal Fraud

There are many extreme stories about monitoring employees and preventing internal fraud that is popular among people. For instance, an organization turned in their employee to the police for performing some suspicious activities on the company computer, or an employer installed tracking equipment in the car of an employee as they suspected that the employee might be moonlighting with a second job. Such news keeps on publishing over newspapers and the web too.

All these incidents made every employer worry and keep a check on their employee activities. Employers are using some sort of electronic equipment to spy on employee online activity. It has been found that such monitoring prevented internal fraud and increased revenues. This is quite amazing, isn’t it!

Rebellion in application development has resulted in the introduction of several monitoring software programs that help employers to protect company secrets. These apps are specifically developed for spying on employees or staff and tracking all their activities on the company’s computer. Legal issues have always been associated when it comes to spying, but here are a few ways through which an employer can legally track the online activities of their employees so as to prevent internal fraud.

Monitoring Internet Usage

If you find your worker searching “how to hack computer systems”, then it is a signal that there may be something wrong with this person. A few search terms or phrases simply make a spy application active and send you a notification. Monitoring software for office computers works in this way only. This is known as keystroke logging. Now, whatever your employees are doing over the web, the sites they are visiting and time they are spending on such stuff will be recorded and sent to you through email. Whosoever is violating company Internet usage policy, the employer will possess the right to keep a check on such employees using internal fraud prevention services in the form of spy apps.

Reporting Inappropriate Activities

If your employees are using the company’s resources for sales and marketing, then being an employer, you have the legal authority to check where they are going. Time has gone when you have to examine employees’ computer activities one by one. Just with an all-in-one employee monitoring solution and it will give you all related details and report the inappropriate activities. No more excuses, no more checking. You can easily find out whether they are making more customers for the company or for themselves. This is important to prevent internal fraud.

Email Monitoring

Every company has a written policy and it is also included in employment agreements that the company can monitor employee emails. This not only includes employee’s work emails but also contains all personal emails that they have sent through the company’s computers. A spy software solution enables you to track all the emails sent and received, time and date logs of each and every email of your employees. This can help you check if there is something wrong going internally. A spy app for desktops and laptops is the finest way through which you can protect the company’s secrets online.

Social Media Activities

Employees mostly spend their time over social media, which is more of addiction nowadays. It has been found that spending too much time on social media has resulted in decreased productivity in several companies. You can prevent yourself from facing such a situation. Track what your folks are doing over the web, check out their browsing history, time spent on social media, the persons they are talking to with some reliable spy software. The spy app will give you all the records in detail.

EaseMon is such one piece of employee monitoring software which invisibly monitors instant messages, logs keystrokes, emails, websites visited, screenshots captured, applications usage, etc. This application is the faster or more accurate way to monitor employee activities online and prevent internal fraud. For those employers who still have questions in their mind how to prevent internal fraud in the company, they must try this app and will surely get answers to all their questions regarding company security.

Spying software for office computers like EaseMon Employee Monitor for Mac helps employers to protect company secrets and prevent internal fraud. These apps are specifically developed for spying on employees or staff and track their all activities on the company’s computer.

The Legality of Mac OS X Employee Monitoring – Explained

The big question employers are faced with is with regards to the legality of Mac OS X employee monitoring software when deciding to monitor employees. Today more than ever, companies are realizing the significance of employee monitoring software, but there’s still some level of uncertainty with regards to the rules that apply. This skepticism about the law is caused by the fact that implementing staff computer monitoring is not a common practice as most security protocols are geared towards outside attacks. The legality of Mac OS X employee monitoring differs in different regions.

When Is Legality of Mac OS X Employee Monitoring Acceptable?

The laws regarding the legality of employee computer monitoring vary between countries, but it is legal for the most part provided it is used on employer-owned time and property. Employee monitoring is completely legal in the United States, but the Electronics Communication Privacy Act released in 1986 states that unauthorized snooping of any type of electronic communication including emails is prohibited except for service providers. Given this exemption, courts in the United States assume that employers who provide email, Internet and other forms of communication fall under this category.

But there’s more to it, where not only it is legal to monitor employees, but the law also does not require employers to notify employees before installing employee monitoring software. Hence, although the practice of informing employees of this legal stance of the company to monitor their tracks while using company resources is highly encouraged, according to US law employers are not obligated to do so.

Why Use Employee Monitoring Software?

There are several reasons to install staff monitoring software, including maintaining confidentiality, measuring productivity and minimizing employer liability in the event of employee misconduct and any legal issues that stem as a result of it. For example, most employers use paid software such as EaseMon rather than staff monitoring software free download for computers as it offers unmatched keylogging and other useful features. There are several benefits of employee monitoring software, most notably the fact that you ensure that your systems are being used appropriately, and not compromised by viruses and other security threats.

Apart from the legality of Mac OS X employee monitoring software, which gives you the right to monitor your staff while they use your resources, you should consider a few good practices to protect your employee’s best interests and yours. Some employees regard staff monitoring as invasive, distracting and even stressful to some extent so below we highlight tips on how to minimize employee and legal issues when you install employee monitoring software.

Tips for Installing Employee Monitoring Software

It is certain that the law permits you as an employer to monitor your employees, but the fact is that there are still several businesses that restrain themselves from installing staff monitoring software for several legitimate business reasons. However, any form of spying or surveillance activities you implement could result in serious morale issues if not handled appropriately. Fact is that no one likes to be spied on, even if they are pursuing personal or non-work related activities on company time.

To minimize these problems, it is best to be straightforward from the start and monitor within limits. Here are 3 tips on implementing an employee monitoring solution such as EaseMon while building perennial employee relationships and simultaneously preventing abuse of your resources.

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The legality of Mac OS X employee monitoring has been explained carefully in the above. There’s no doubt that employee monitoring is a critical part of any business. Although it is legal to monitor employees in the United States, you must make is as desirable for your employees while protecting your business interests.