Friday, May 5, 2023

"Wearables on the job: efficiency- boosters or an invasion of privacy"/ "IT managers are uneasy about employee-monitoring software"

Aug. 7, 2016 "Wearables on the job: efficiency- boosters or an invasion of privacy": I read this article by Karen Turner in the Edmonton Journal today.  It's on Press Reader. 

This part stood out to me: "In 2014, a fitness trainer filed a personal injury lawsuit and used Fitbit data to prove to the courts that her exercise level decreased after the accident, affecting her ability to work":

At U.K. supermarket chain Tesco, workers wear sensor-bearing armbands to track inventory while unloading goods. 

"Pickers" that put together orders at Amazon.com warehouses wear GPS tags designed to guide them on the most efficient warehouse route. All of these wearable devices are designed to monitor worker productivity, combining man and machine for maximum efficiency. (Amazon's chief executive, Jeffrey P. Bezos, owns The Washington Post.)

Wearables have been long used to help monitor an individual's health and fitness. But now wearable use is becoming increasingly common in the workplace to record, analyze and enhance worker productivity, raising concerns among lawyers and labor specialists who feel that it's a step toward stripping employees of workplace rights.

"It's one thing to think about ways that workers can navigate the wearables to be more efficient. But what does this mean about the employee and employer relationship that they need to be so closely monitored?" asked Elise Gould, a labor economist at Economic Policy Institute. "What does it say about the sense of trust or respect?"

The worldwide wearable market has shot up in recent years, with sales increasing 67 percent in 2016 alone. And the workplace is poised to become a prime place for wearable use. A recent study by customer management software company Salesforce showed that 86 percent of U.S. companies plan to invest more in wearable applications on the job over the course of 2016, with 40 percent interested in using wearables to monitor employee time management and real-time employee communication.

The Daqri helmet, used by companies like the California-based Hyperloop, has allowed workers to see GPS-guided blueprints via augmented reality vision in real time, allowing workers to spot welds without needing to go through extensive training. 

And a Hitachi Business Microscope affixed to a lanyard monitors how and when office workers interact with others, which can lead management to better understand how frequently different departments interact, though the company offers no examples of where the gadget is actually used.

There are also productivity and tangible safety benefits as well, according to a study. Workers who integrate this technology are 8.5 percent more productive and 3.5 percent more satisfied, a Rackspace study found. 

And for management, worker data can offer insight into human labor. Such data can help managers establish productivity metrics and goals and help workers achieve bonuses and promotions based on merit. 

And these devices could promote employee well-being — truck drivers outfitted with "SmartCap" devices that lower the risk of falling asleep on the road are adding to both their productive output and their physical safety.

While some companies and employees see some benefits to wearables at work, some labor lawyers suggest that people should be wary of unintended legal consequences. Lawyer Avi Kumin expressed concern for employees who might not be hitting productivity standards due to a medical condition or disability. 

Managers prohibited from giving employees medical examinations are at risk for lawsuits simply because they have access to physical data about their employees. 

There are also privacy concerns ranging from constant video or audio surveillance by wearables to potential medical information revealed by devices that read heart rates.

Kumin mentioned that he is uncomfortable with potential abuses by bosses with the power to constantly watch.

"What if someone of a certain gender, race or age is monitored disproportionally compared to their younger, whiter, male-er colleague?" he asked.

Wearables have already made their way into workplace-related lawsuits. In 2014, a fitness trainer filed a personal injury lawsuit and used Fitbit data to prove to the courts that her exercise level decreased after the accident, affecting her ability to work. The case is an example of what could happen when not just workers but employers and insurers begin to use wearable data in courts.

But given the legal risks, are wearables worth it, given the bump in worker output they provide? Elise Gould, a labor economist at the Economic Policy Institute, says that wearable use is likely to lead to higher profit margins for a company. 

But she's concerned that those returns won't be reflected in the employees' paychecks. 

"What will employers do with that data? 

Do workers have any collective bargaining power to use this data to make sure they are getting compensated for their work?" she asked, adding that many companies that use these technologies, such as Amazon, do not have unionized work forces.

She said that she's concerned about erosion of trust between the employee and employer when employees are so closely monitored. "It's stressful. And psychological effects can be a cost to productivity as well," she said.


Apr. 21, 2023 "IT managers are uneasy about employee-monitoring software": Today I found this article by Matthew Boyle on the Financial Post:

Workers generally dislike software that monitors their every keystroke. But a new survey has found that even those managers who deploy the technology don’t care for it either.

While most organizations use productivity-monitoring software, 73 per cent of IT managers are uncomfortable telling their staff to install it, according to a survey from 1E, an information-technology outsourcing firm. 

A big reason for their misgivings: Nearly half of them say their firm doesn’t tell employees that such software is in place or, in some cases, how it’s used.  

One-third of the 500 IT managers surveyed said surveillance technology shouldn’t be used under any circumstances, so they’re likely not concerned that many on their own staff tell employees about workarounds that can outfox the snooping.

“There’s quite a lot of frustration among IT workers and managers about the use of these technologies,” said Mark Banfield, chief executive of 1E. “The people who implement it might not always be on board with it.”

The survey, which also polled 500 IT workers, reflects the growing concern over the use of tools to monitor productivity, particularly for remote workers. About 85 per cent of managers worry they can’t tell if employees are getting enough done, according to research from Microsoft Corp., while 87 per cent of workers say their productivity is just fine. That’s led to what Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella calls “productivity paranoia,” prompting bosses to deploy various surveillance tools. More than one in three employers (37 per cent) even use live camera feeds, according to a separate survey.

Resistance to such tactics is mounting, said Banfield, adding that he’s aware of some organizations that are “starting to scale back their plans with surveillance technology.”

That might be due in part to the ambivalence of their in-house technology teams. More than half of IT workers said they would turn down an otherwise good job if they knew the company spied on employees. 

And eight per cent of IT leaders said they would simply refuse to deploy the technology, no matter the consequences.

For now, though, workplace surveillance is embedded in most organizations — even those who don’t use it believe their company is at least somewhat likely to start doing so within the next three years, according to the survey, conducted by Wakefield Research for 1E. The negative impacts on workers can include reduced trust and loyalty, along with increased anxiety and resignations.

“If you are doing great work it is because you’re inspired,” Banfield said. “Not because someone is watching you. This tactic does far more harm to culture and reputation than good.”

Bloomberg.com

https://financialpost.com/fp-work/it-managers-uneasy-employee-monitoring-software


Exactly why after a 32 years IT career I now work as an indépendant and don't even look at the job market anymore. I don't need an employer to make money on the web, but they need sysadmins to keep their shop alive in the digital economy , sucks for them but none of my concern.


They after all your employer who pay your wages. If you feel slighted you are free to seek other employment opportunities elsewhere.

  • Exactly what I did, I'm now the competition without the management overhead that permits me to quote way below their cost.

  • This week's theme is about employee tracking:


    "Is your boss tracking you while you work? Some Canadians are about to find out"/ "Some Canadians say remote employee tracking is justified. Others are dead set against it"

    http://badcb.blogspot.com/2023/05/is-your-boss-tracking-you-while-you.html


    "Pssst: your employer is probably surveilling you"/ "Digital hour-logging is mandatory for truckers. Surveillance experts worry it won't stop there"




    My week:



    Apr. 27, 2023 "The Gap to lay off 1,800 workers": Today I found this article on CBC.  This store is average:


    Gap Inc. said on Thursday it would cut about 1,800 jobs in a second round of layoffs in the last 12 months, joining a set of big U.S. companies that are downsizing in earnest as high inflation eats into consumer wallets.




    Apr. 28, 2023 "Inflation is taking a bite out of your snack fix: Junk food profits are up despite fizzling sales": Today I found this article by Pete Evans on CBC.  I'm posting this because I like chips:

    From furniture to gasoline, to mortgages and used cars, inflation has taken a big bite out of people's budgets, and now it's coming for the indulgence many Canadians will be most reluctant to cut back on: junk food.

    If it feels like your favourite chocolate bar, bag of chips or other treat is getting more expensive lately, it's not your imagination. Earnings at major food makers released this week all painted a similar picture, one of an industry that's raking in more money than ever from junk food — even as the actual volume of product they're selling is flat or even down in some cases.

    Pepsi says its sales revenue from all of its brands around the world — a list that included Doritos, Cheetos, Tropicana, Gatorade and its eponymous cola — increased by 10 per cent last quarter. But the actual volume of products it shipped barely budged, with beverages up by one per cent and convenience foods actually declining by three per cent from last year's level.

    It's a similar story at rival Coca-Cola, where organic revenues grew by 12 per cent last quarter, even as unit case volumes only grew by three per cent. Chocolate maker Hershey's quarter was similar. The candy bar giant sold more than $2.9 billion worth of candy bars last quarter, an increase of more than 12 per cent in dollar terms. But the volume of products was only up by three per cent.



    "Brampton pizza scam victim who lost more than $4K speaks out": Today I found this article by John Rieti on CBC:

    A Brampton mother says her family has taken a major financial hit after falling victim to a pizza delivery scam.

    Samjhana Shrestha said she thought she was doing a nice thing when a teenager approached her in a grocery store parking lot and asked her to pay for their pizza delivery with her debit card. The teen told her the Domino's driver wouldn't accept the cash they had.

    She did, and took the teen's cash in exchange, only to later realize she was the victim of an elaborate fraud. The scammers behind it cleared some $4,300 out of her chequing account. 

    Shrestha, who recently gave birth to her second child, said the loss means her family is out "big money."

    "The cost of formula is going up. The interest of mortgage is going high. All of the things are going up … you can imagine how hard this is for us," she told CBC Toronto. 

    Victim still unsure how fraudsters did it

    Shrestha's ordeal began on March 22 at around 7:30 p.m. in a Fortinos parking lot off Quarry Edge Drive. 

    The teenager said she could keep his $20 bill if she could pay for the pizza with her card.

    She initially tried to pay for the pizza with her credit card, but the man posing as a delivery driver, who she said looked to be in his 30s, told her it wouldn't work and asked if she could use debit, instead.

    Unfortunately for her, she did.

    The point-of-sale machine she was handed looked normal, she said, but the tap feature didn't work. Shrestha is still unsure how the fraud happened from here. 

    She said she remembers inserting her card and said she was holding it for the entire time she used her pin number.

    But somehow, the two men were able to get her pin and she was given a similar card that wasn't hers.

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/pizza-scam-victim-speaks-out-1.6824925


    My opinion: I have read something like this before about a woman who paid for a young boy's taxi ride with her card, because the taxi driver wouldn't take credit or debit or something like that.



    Apr. 29, 2023 "Ottawa wants to automatically file taxes for low-income Canadians — and perhaps eventually for everyone": Today I found this article by Pete Evans on CBC.   I like this article because it's about the government helping people with low- income:

    With Monday's deadline for Canadians to file their income taxes for 2022, experts say a new pilot program for the government to automate the process for low-income Canadians is a long overdue step on the road toward doing them automatically for everyone.

    In the recent federal budget, the government announced the creation and expansion of a couple of pilot programs aimed at getting millions of low-income Canadians to file their taxes, and giving them access to benefit programs they are entitled to.

    The government says as many as 12 per cent of Canadians don't file their taxes every year, most of whom are low-income Canadians. It's estimated that non-filers missed out on more than $1.7 billion worth of government rebates and programs they were entitled to in the 2015 tax year alone.


    https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tax-filing-deadline-1.6825841




    Apr. 30, 2023 "Who is Tyson Venegas, the 17-year-old from Port Moody, B.C., wowing American Idol audiences?": Today I found this article by Arrthy Thayaparan on CBC.  He sang so beautifully as he was playing the piano:



    He made headlines early this year when he wowed judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan, and received the season's first Platinum Ticket for his cover of Billy Joel and Tony Bennett's New York State of Mind.


    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tyson-venegas-american-idol-1.6826881


    May 2, 2023 "Two 10-year-olds worked at McDonald’s without pay — sometimes until 2 am, feds say": Today I found this article by Julia Marnin on Yahoo:


    Two 10-year-olds were found working at McDonald’s, where they prepared and served meals, worked the drive-thru and the cash register and cleaned the store, according to federal labor officials.

    The children would occasionally work as late as 2 a.m. and were never paid at a McDonald’s restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

    The restaurant let one of the 10-year-olds use a deep fryer, a task workers under the age of 16 aren’t allowed to do under federal law as it’s considered dangerous equipment, labor officials said.

    “It’s prohibited for a 10-year-old to be working at a McDonald’s franchise,” Juan Coria, the department’s Wage and Hour Division regional administrator for the Southeast, told McClatchy News in an interview on May 2.

    The children are two of 305 minors under the age of 16 who the agency’s Wage and Hour Division investigators learned were working illegally at McDonald’s restaurants in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio, the Department of Labor announced in a May 2 news release.

    https://ca.yahoo.com/news/two-10-olds-worked-mcdonald-185647664.html


    My opinion: At least the company is paying the young workers now.




    May 3, 2023 "New Canadian retail chain set to launch from ashes of former Bed Bath & Beyond locations": Today I found this article by Pete Evans on CBC:

     

    Serial entrepreneur Doug Putman plans to launch his latest retail venture by taking over most of the remnants of Bed Bath & Beyond, in a new chain called rooms + spaces.

    Putman, who has made similar moves when HMV, Toys 'R' Us and DavidsTea went insolvent, plans to open the home store brand in 21 former locations of Bed Bath & Beyond and buybuy BABY storefronts later this summer.

    A major one of those tenants was revealed in a separate piece of news on Wednesday, as Canadian Tire announced it would be taking over 10 former Bed Bath & Beyond stores and converting them into Mark's Work Wearhouse and Pro Hockey Life locations.

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/rooms-spaces-bed-bath-beyond-1.6830500





    May 2, 2023 Dentist: I went to the dentist today.  It was like $400.  I haven't seen one in a year and a half.  My mom and I had appointments together with this new dentist who replaced the one who retired.


    The new dentist is also Chinese.  He's in his 30s.  I feel the difference when he cleaned my teeth.


    Haircut: Last month I went and got a haircut.


    Job interviews: When I'm not going to appointments, I attend job interviews.


    Go out for fun: I hardly ever go out for fun.  It's been cold out.


    Sitting outside in the sun: It's finally warm.  I can now sit outside on my lawn chair in my backyard and read the news and business news and surf the internet.


    May 4, 2023 A Million Little Things: I watched the season 5 finale/ series finale.  It was so well-written and acted. It was heartwarming.  The show was solid and average.  They ended it well.


    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7608248/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_6_nm_2_q_a%2520mi


    Will Trent: I have been watching a lot of these episodes in a couple of weeks.  I like this crime drama show, but with some comedy.


    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17543592/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_5_nm_3_q_will%2520tr



    May 5, 2023 Panera Bread charity work: I was watching A Million Little Things and I saw this ad for them, that they donate day old bread.


    I went to the website, and I found this:


    Book a fundraising event at your local Panera and
    20%* of the sales from that event will go to your
    organization.**



    https://www.panera.ca/en-us/home.html


    https://fundraising.panerabread.com/



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