The question I want to put in front of you today is “Is it ethical for employers to use information technologies to extend work into employees’ home lives?  What are the most ethically responsible employee responses to these pressures?”  How persuasive is the move of technology in to our home lives?  In addition, how do we deal with it and what should our response be to our employers?

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn said, “Technology is … a constant backdrop in people’s lives, at home, at work, on the road and literally in the palms of their hands. We call it the ‘connected world’ and, as exciting as it is, it’s also increasingly complex, and difficult to keep pace with.” (Ella, 2010)  Technology for people, who have it, is increasingly in our lives.  The more we tie ourselves into the global communications grid the more we are expected to remain on it.  These even extend beyond the point of our control at times.

At times, it cannot be avoided, like when your employer issues you a smartphone and a laptop.  In this case, we ask are selves what is expected of me now.  Your very own work issued laptop and smart phone may be very practical for some jobs like a sales rep or a traveling inspector where it allows you to complete your work in a more practical situation.  It allows workers to be able fill orders and or file reports without ever have to set foot back in the office.  However, this leaves a grate temptation to your employer to abuse the employee’s connectivity, because not you are never truly away from the office.  What barriers are stopping the employer from making you a slave to the machine?

How do we deal with the pressers that our employer put on us?  First must take stock of their entanglement, how much of your personal life do you want to be yours and how much do you want your employer to have.  Account for how much time you spend outside of work hours working.  Not everyone is the same as in some spend the extra time working trying to get promoted or just trying to keep afloat in a hectic work environment.  Nevertheless, what is true for one it true for all, everyone needs to set boundaries.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 8 percent of us work from home. That is more than 11 million people. (Bruce Weinstein, 2011) For all of them to keep productive some limits have to be in place.  Employer and employee have to strike a balance, determine what the work hours are and what you can be contacted for outside of work hours.  This is normally not a problem for hourly workers as the employer already has an in place determent to prevent work hour abuse in the form of monetary compensation.  On the other hand, salary workers who make up a larger part of the mobile workforce do not have such a protection, employers see salaried workers as prepaid on call assets.  So setting boundaries with your employer is important to prevent indirect abuse.

Know thy rights… and make sure your boss knows them also.  How do you know that what your employer is doing is unethical or illegal if you do not know if it is?  You have a right to privacy even though it is not sated in the Bill of Rights it is in the Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. (wikipedia, 2012)  Does your employer have an employee bill of rights that cover what they will do regarding the use of company property?  Most employers have their IT users sign a user agreement that sates what you can and cannot do with their IT assets.  In general, on most corporate networks and devices whatever you write say or where you go, that information belongs to your employer. (privacyrights.org, 2012)  However, with the Bring your own device (BYOD) movement there has been a graying line in were the personal privacy boundary is.

BYOD is a business policy of employees bringing personally owned mobile devices to their place of work and using those devices to access privileged company resources such as email, file servers and databases as well as their personal applications and data. (wikipedia, Bring your own device, 2012)  How has this new trend created new ethical boundaries?  First for most employers, they are required to have some access to your device to allow you to have access to the corporate network.  Although BYOD allows you, greater freedom in how you are able to use your device it does not remove your responsibility to protect corporate data.  This means that little jonnie gets on your laptop at home and unwittingly runs a P2P app and the next thing you know confidential corporate data is running free all over the internet.  The opposite can happen to your personal data whenever you are connected to your corporate network you employer running scans of your computer in the guise of protecting the network can find personal data of yours that you might not want out.  Most people suggest keeping your personal devices and work devices separate to prevent such problems.  It is all about creating boundaries.

In the end by setting boundaries is the only way to keep the lines that separate your work and home life from coming to close together.  Work with your employer to find you where that line is with respect of your employers expatiations.

Works Cited

Bruce Weinstein, P. (2011, 1 3). How to solve work-at-home ethical dilemmas. Retrieved 11 30, 2012, from cnn.com: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/02/03/opinion.weinstein/index.html

Ella, V. J. (2010, 02 5). Best Buy Counsel Speaks on Data Privacy. Retrieved 11 30, 2012, from workplaceprivacyreport.com: http://www.workplaceprivacyreport.com/2010/02/articles/data-security/best-buy-counsel-speaks-on-data-privacy/

privacyrights.org. (2012, 09 1). Workplace Privacy and Employee Monitoring. Retrieved 11 30, 2012, from privacyrights.org: https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs7-work.htm

wikipedia. (2012, 11 30). Bring your own device. Retrieved 11 30, 2012, from wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bring_your_own_device

wikipedia. (2012, 11 30). Privacy law. Retrieved 11 30, 2012, from wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_law