Spy software found a worker wasn't working as much as she said. Now she must repay her wages.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/remote-worker-ordered-to-repay-employer-after-tracking-software-shows-time-theft/
Spy software found a worker wasn't working as much as she said. Now she must repay her wages.
moneywatch
BY MEGAN CERULLO
JANUARY 13, 2023 / 2:54 PM / MONEYWATCH
A Canadian accountant has been ordered to repay her employer for "time theft" after the company's tracking software determined that she was performing personal tasks while she claimed to be working. The court ruling marks one of the first instances in which such technology has been used to order a worker to repay an employer for slacking off on the job.
Karlee Besse, an employee of Vancouver Island accounting firm Reach CPA, initially claimed she was wrongfully dismissed and that her employer owed her $5,000 in unpaid wages and severance pay. Besse's employer said it terminated her because she engaged in time theft and filed a countersuit seeking just over $2,600 in wages it paid her while she allegedly wasn't working as well as part of an advance she received before her employment began.
The court decision comes as more companies install tracking software on workers' computers to detect keystrokes and clicks to ensure they focus on work-related tasks while doing their jobs remotely. Some critics say this kind of surveillance amounts to spying and infringes on employees' basic rights.
In October of last year, the National Labor Relations Board expressed concern over employers' growing electronic surveillance of workers and its potential to intrude on their privacy rights. NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo announced her intention to "protect employees, to the greatest extent possible, from intrusive or abusive electronic monitoring and automated management practices that would have a tendency to interfere with Section 7 rights."
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