Video and Audio Surveillance of Employees

A bit of background first..
from April 2009 to December 2012 I worked in the kitchen at a retirement home. The Retirement home is owned by one company (I won't release any names for simplicity's sake so we'll call it X ) and the kitchen is owned by another company ( Z ). The kitchen is employed by X. the building itself is managed by this woman ( Q ) who is employed by X.
You might want to read over that again so it makes sense..

I have friends who still work there and they've been keeping me up to date on all the nonsense that goes on there.
The biggest thing which really has me pissed off is that the woman Q has installed audio/video cameras in the kitchen to monitor employees of the kitchen. she has a live feed which can be monitored in her office, and in her home. HER HOME. sadly from what I've read its legal, unless I read something incorrectly.
Apparently people have been getting written up for being heard using foul language, which is in the privacy of the kitchen, and cannot be heard by anyone in the dining room.

Like this is just insane! I'm so glad I got out of that place!!

Yes this sort of thing is becoming commonplace now. I just had a friend quit a job that was working in a shop that had a similar situation. The boss would sit home and just watch the employees on the many cameras that were installed throughout the facility. He even went as far as to fire people just based on what he saw them doing on camera over the phone. Wouldn't actually set foot in the building, he would just call request the person in question and let them go over the phone.

When I first heard this from my friend I was baffled, but given how society has adapted so quickly to social networking and technology I guess I should have seen this coming.

reply to post by Holidakd


not that i agree but its not a private kitchen its a business and it has owners, how they choose to monitor it and run it, is up to them. You can always get a job somewhere else if you don't like it or just start doing your job and stop cursing since really at work you shouldn't be cursing at least not at most jobs.

also i actually do agree to a point in this, as a former business owner if i had employees that were working when i wasnt there (I was always there when they were) I would have used video cameras to make sure that since I am paying my workers they are actually working.. Imagine that.. I am paying you to work not goof off and curse, ect. If you don't like it go work at mcdonalds.

my old employers did it, the owners could view live footage on their Iphones from anywhere. The mistake was, they also gave access to it to some of the managers and supervisors. And some were immature and started teasing employees about things like picking their noses.

Originally posted by dc4lifeskater
reply to post by Holidakd

 

not that i agree but its not a private kitchen its a business and it has owners, how they choose to monitor it and run it, is up to them. You can always get a job somewhere else if you don't like it or just start doing your job and stop cursing since really at work you shouldn't be cursing at least not at most jobs.

also i actually do agree to a point in this, as a former business owner if i had employees that were working when i wasnt there (I was always there when they were) I would have used video cameras to make sure that since I am paying my workers they are actually working.. Imagine that.. I am paying you to work not goof off and curse, ect. If you don't like it go work at mcdonalds.

edit on 8-2-2013 by dc4lifeskater because: (no reason given)

I often don't agree with your point of view when I read your posts ....but, on this you are absolutely correct.

reply to post by dc4lifeskater


Dead on.The owners of that place have every right to monitor it how they see fit-and write up any employees they see are not doing their jobs.I managed a supermarket years ago and believe me,those cameras came in handy not only in catching the slackers but also getting the truth about something.I'm with you,any employee who doesn't like it can go find another place to waste time and steal their money while goofing off instead of working.

Yeah, video surveillance is one thing, but audio is a nope. Things I talk about to people at work are things that nobody ever needs to know or repeat. I'd just quit.

Depending on the state, I believe it's illegal for audio recording
but again probably depends on the state..

its only illegal to record audio on someone if they don't know if and what you do/say at work isn't private, its not your time unless you are on a lunch break or some type of break where you are not getting paid and unless you leave the privately owned building that is video/audio monitored then if you your conversation is heard or seen that is your problem..

There should be nothing that you say or do at work that should cause you any issues with your job unless you are doing/saying something you shouldn't be and then you are taking the risk on them firing you...

The reason that when the phone company or telemarketer calls you and say (this recording could be monitored blah blah) is because they have to inform you by law or they are breaking the wiretapping law but when you are working for someone they can record you all they want audio/video as long as its not in a private area like in a bathroom stall, they can however still record the inside of the bathroom you just can't see inside the stalls.

Most companies btw like walmart have recording inside the dressing room because you aren't suppose to fully undress in there just down to underwear so they record to make sure that you are not going into there and stealing things.

But its not your private conversation if you are conducting it on work time, in fact when you are not doing your job that someone is paying you to do you are in fact stealing from the company. I am very much against this, when I go to work I work hard, I have almost always worked for myself and that has problably given me more understanding there. People who goof off and work and don't care are the ones always complaining they can't find jobs.. That is because when they call your old boss they tell the potential boss yah this guy just goofs off and wastes time.

As most small business's if you don't run a tight ship and everyone pull their weight then it puts the ship in danger of losing money which can affect everyone else. My gf works at a small biz that has 12 employee's and is owned by a couple in their late 40's. They make $7mil a year right now and are on track to make $15mil within the next 5 years. Everyone that works there works really hard from start to finish of the day. Sure they could hire more people and make less work for everyone but then they would have to cut down on perks, benefits and pay. My gf started at $15hr and she is reaching the time where they evaluate and up her pay so she should bump to atleast $17hr. She gets full medical benefits even for me (her bf) and her daughter, they bring in lunch for everyone every day they have a lady that always either orders something or makes everyone something good. For christmas they took every employee and their spouse to downtown austin and put us in a swanky hotel, took us to the top steakhouse in Austin for a 7 course dinner (#ing amazing) unlimited alcohol (we are all drunks lmao) the bill had to be easily $2500 if not way more and then who knows for the hotels they run about $300 a room per night. They also have a trip for the workers and families every year that is coming up and they pay for everyone to go somewhere and stay and we all have fun.

The work is like a big family but the owners understand that when you make $12mil you don't just keep it all for yourself because they wouldn't make crap without all the people working for them. They treat everyone like a family and with respect, there is VERY low turnover because people have no reason to leave unless the job just starts to stress them or one lady got preg so she took off for a while on maturnity leave.

They have no cameras and have no need for them becuase everyone loves working there and does their jobs. If all companies followed this business model then the world would be a better place.