Persons Privacy And Dignity Within The Workplace example essay topic
380 words
As usual, future workers should be monitored by their employers. It is necessary for quality control and performance purposes as well as for health care, tax, and background checks. Employers try to collect personal information of different kinds. As a rule, while gathering personal information, employers interfere in workers private life (either the consent, or at least the knowledge, of employees). Thats why workers have to protect their privacy. With the development of new technologies and job market, the very structure and nature of the workplace have been changed. As a rule, surveillance has become automated. As a result, monitoring practices have become more invasive and sometimes even covert. They violate persons privacy and dignity within the workplace. With the help of technological means, supervisors get ease and efficient information about employees performance, behavior and communications. With modern technologies, employers know every aspect of a workers life.
Software programs provide exact screen images, telephone management systems monitor the destination of calls, miniature cameras and Smart ID badges are used to supervise an employees behavior and movements. There are a large number of tests used in workplace recruitment such as psychological tests, general intelligence tests, performance tests, personality tests, honesty and background checks, drug tests, and medical tests. Most of all, the discovery of DNA gave a birth to new kind of tests - genetic testing. It means that an employer has access to the most intimate details of an employees body. From one side, the measure allows to predict some diseases, medical and behavioral conditions. It helps an employer to choose the best candidates, taking into account health and safety, customer relations or legal obligation.
By the way, monitoring employees, employers can reduce security risks and sexual harassment But from the point of view of human dignity, it is a violation of workers property and can seriously compromise dignity of employees. Most of all, it can lead to unhealthy environment in the workplace, increase worker stress. Surveillance techniques can be used to harass and discriminate. So, the problem is what measures should be taken to protect workers privacy, at the same time, thinking about the best way for recruiting employees.
