Remote and hybrid work arrangements continue to reshape the way employers approach performance management, and many organizations are turning to technology to help supervise offsite workers. Whether an employer simply notes when remote workers are available online through a platform such as Teams or Slack or uses more sophisticated software to track keystrokes and other activity, monitoring remote employees has its pros and cons. Employers will need to understand the relevant legal risks and balance the value of such practices with the potential impact on employee morale. What points should employers consider as they review and revise their remote-work policies? Here are five tips from Fisher Phillips attorneys Risa Boerner and Brent Sedge, and SHRM’s senior director of the HR Knowledge Center, Amber Clayton, SHRM-SCP.
1. Consider How Technology Can Help
“With the dramatic increase in remote-work arrangements since the inception of the pandemic—and the stickiness of those arrangements to this day—many employers are looking for ways to monitor productivity and ensure that employees are available and working during business hours,” Boerner says.
How can technology help? Employers can use systems to track productive and unproductive time while employees work remotely, Clayton notes. For instance, a monitoring system could detect when an employee is performing tasks that aren’t job-related, such as surfing the Web for restaurant recommendations or things to do on the weekend....
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