Lucas Esquivel
CYSE 425W
Policy Analysis Paper 3
In this analysis paper we are going to look over some of the ethical implications that arise from remote work policy. The first big ethical implication is whether employee monitoring is ethical. According to an article written by OnBlick (2022), employee monitoring is like keeping track of employees’ activities. Monitoring ensures that employees are efficiently using company resources. This includes checking on employees who are working outside of the office to identify if those resources are being used properly by those who are working remotely. As the rise of remote workers has rapidly increased due to the pandemic, new ethical questions have been raised on company remote work policies. Employers are responsible for monitoring the use of technology by remote workers just as if they were at the office site, but there are some implications they need to consider from the legal side. Usually, employers need to first give their employees advanced notice of their plans of checking in on their technology use, because if this is not done it can be seen as an invasion of privacy to the remote worker. This is where I can see ethical issues start to arise if the employee is never notified or consents to being monitored. There are ways to monitor employees ethically, one of those being transparent surveillance which lets the employee know they are being watched. Another way companies can ethically monitor their employees is by creating a policy for surveillance of their employees which should include clear and transparent consent forms. People who remotely work from home should always be notified that they are being monitored.
Another implication we are going to cover is how workers rights may not be appropriately addressed when it comes to remote work policy. I read one article by ADP (2022) that addressed an issue that directly relates to this. When it comes to remote work an ethical issue that may occur is that state licensing may be a taken consideration in some companies or industries. Meaning if you work from home and decide to move to a different state or location you may or may not be able to depending on if your company or industry allow you to. I believe it is unethical as a business to not give your employees that freedom so the most ethical route is to do all the appropriate steps to assure employees can work from wherever they want, even if they move across the country. Employers need to be responsible of knowing where all their employees are working from and when it comes to people working in different states, they need to be responsible for observing those state’s laws. Each company should have a defined, ethical process by which employers can identify state changes and apply the appropriate changes if their employee decides to move to a different state. This way various systems the company uses, such as payroll, recognize which state’s laws apply to the employee.
The final ethical implication I’m going to talk about revolves around the preservation of confidentiality. Virtual environments lead to an increased focus on cybersecurity more than ever before and now with people going remote, making sure data is safe and secure is even more important than ever. From this one article I read by the Illinois CPA Society (2020) they talk about how proper education and training to employees like how to create safe passwords and take security steps to protecting their computers, routers, and other devices are extremely important. It is unethical for someone that is working remote to be improperly trained or not even qualified for the job because that person could be allowing vulnerabilities for potential cyber attacks to occur without them even noticing. Which in turn can lead to data breaches and the loss of personal files and data. We’ve seen since the pandemic not only an increase in remote work but also an increase in the number of cyber attacks occurring. If companies want to keep their data as safe as possible while having the upmost confidence in their employees, making sure they are properly trained is an important and ethical solution. It is unethical to leave employees untrained or even unqualified which is even worse, make safety decisions from their computer that could affect the entire company and potentially get hacked. This can result in loss of money, clients, and reputation.
Works Cited
(2020, November 18). The Ethics of Remote Work. Illinois CPA Society. Retrieved February 20, 2023, from https://www.icpas.org/information/copy-desk/insight/article/winter-2020/the-ethics-of-remote-work
(2022, January 26). Implications of “Work from Anywhere” – When Remote Workers Cross State Lines. ADP. Retrieved February 20, 2023, from https://www.adp.com/spark/articles/2022/06/implications-of-work-from-anywhere-when-remote-workers-cross-state-lines.aspx
(2022, August 5). Monitoring Remote Employees – Is It Ethical? OnBlick. Retrieved February 20, 2023, from https://www.onblick.com/blogs/monitoring-remote-employees-is-it-ethical