Back in 2019, a Gartner survey of 239 corporations found that more than half were already using “nontraditional monitoring techniques” for their employees.  Nowadays most people stay at home and perform their functions remotely, the emergence of “bossware”- That is, software aimed at tracking employees’ activity – has brought about some rather profound ethical dilemmas. Such devices promise not only efficiency but also responsibility these covers such apps as, time tracking, productivity monitoring, and even screenshot taking. Yet, these tools raise concerns related to privacy, trust, the impact on organizational climate, and workplace dynamics.

The Rise of Bossware

Due to the necessity of remote work being sought for the majority of job holders, Bossware has been coming into the picture. These tools can be used for time tracking and application usage monitoring, or email usage and generate reports out of user activities. They are meant to solve self-management problems associated with remote work, such as loss of focus and output. However, the deployment of these tools similarly comes with a whole range of which must be properly managed by any organisation who employs such.

One of the primary ethical issues faced with bossware technology is its affect on privacy of workers. Although the aim of these tools is to make work processes more efficient, they are typically accompanied by excessive control over the employees’ online behavior. This may create a feeling of surveillance or social control thereby undermining employers-employees relations. Being subjected to continual surveillance can lead to an atmosphere of stress within the employees as they may feel as if every action they undertake is under their employers’ supervision, which may contribute to a drop in employee’s concentration and motivation.

Furthermore, when bossware monitors activities off work hours, the distinction between work and home life disappears. With that, comes the intrusion of after hours worth- do landlords really need to monitor so much of their employees away from the office?

Trust and Autonomy

Bossware software monitor affects trust and autonomy of employees which is another crucial area of concern. One of the fundamental principles of freelancing or working from home is that one can decide how to structure their working routine. Dependence on the respective instruments, on the contrary, demeans that freedom making the entire work feel like it is being supervised to the minutest of details and unappreciated by the workers themselves. Trust is one of the underlying aspects of effective remedial workforce, inflated monitoring can destroy that trust and thus the satisfaction and engagement levels of work.

The Future of Remote Work

As remote work becomes more sophisticated, so too will the instruments used to police the employees vanish. However, there will be the need to be concerned about the reach of this observation in relation to others. Communication about these issues can be effective in alleviating some of the anxiety. Employees should be clear about the purposes and the subjects of monitoring and what data is going to be used for.

Promoting Ethical Solutions: Civil Disobedience

On the opposite side of the extreme form of bossware– Controlio provides attention to Employee privacy and productivity as well. Controlio is less of an intrusive tool, yet it is packed with monitoring elements that can include activity monitoring, capturing images of users’ desktops and printing out many other detailed aspects of the work processes on the Recipients end. However, this particular tool allows maximizing productivity and steering remote teams while keeping the moral edge in the worker monitoring activity.

Managing remote work efficiently requires combination of several different tools, and

Controlio is one such tool. It does not allow any form of “big brother” type abuses while providing necessary oversight. With the increasing trend of remote work, it is important to put in place methods of monitoring employees that will not breach their trust and respect.