White House Engages on Employee Monitoring Technologies

On May 25, 2023, the White House Office convened a listening session with workers, researchers, labor and civil rights leaders, and policymakers regarding the use of automated technologies by employers to surveil, monitor, evaluate, and manage their workers. The listening session was attended by officials from the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC), Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and Office of Management and Budget (OMB), as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Scrutinized industries at the meeting included “call centers, trucking, warehousing, home health care, and app-based ride sharing.” While not on the hot list, agencies utilizing employee electronic surveillance technologies for their workers should take note.

The listening session followed an early May 2023 announcement by the OSTP that it was issuing a public request for information (RFI) to learn more about the automated tools used by employers to surveil, monitor, evaluate, and manage workers. The RFI seeks to advance the federal government’s understanding of the design, deployment, prevalence, and impacts of these automated technologies. The OSTP plans to use written comments to this RFI to inform new policy responses; share relevant research, data, and findings with the public; and amplify best practices among employers, worker organizations, technology vendors, developers, and others in civil society. Written comments on the RFI are due June 15, 2023.

Employers are increasingly investing in technologies that monitor and track workers, and making workplace decisions based on that information. According to an investigation by The New York Times in August 2022, eight of the ten largest private U.S. employers tracked individual workers to assess their productivity. The report also found that electronic productivity monitoring is growing among white-collar jobs and roles that require advanced degrees. Many employees, whether working remotely or in person, are subject to trackers, scores, “idle” buttons, or just quiet, constantly accumulating records. 

Regardless of the technology, some employers may not know how far they can or should extend their authority to monitor employees’ activities. It’s always best to turn to federal and state employee monitoring laws and regulations to establish limits. Individual U.S. states also have their own laws concerning electronic worker surveillance and monitoring.

With increased regulatory scrutiny in this area, legal and human resource departments within agencies utilizing these technologies should review their technology, procedures, and employee consent and communications frameworks to ensure employer policies governing appropriate workplace Internet use and the employer’s right to monitoring are in sync with current legal paradigms, both in idea and in practice.

Want to learn more about government policies concerning employee electronic surveillance issues? Please contact Amanda Anderson, 4As Vice President of Government Relations.