You may be working from home, but your employer still knows what you’re up to…

EMPLOYERS could be tracking productivity and taking pictures of their workers’ screens as the practice of working from home soars.

Many people may be using work devices unaware that their bosses have installed tracking software to see if they are working or using their computers for internet shopping, banking or social media now they are more likely to be conducting business from their living rooms.

Edgar Ndjatou, director at Workplace Fairness, said: “When you are given a device by your employer, always assume they are either tracking your location, or the software you are using, or will at some point audit devices to see what you have been up to – and that it is all legal.”

Tom Neil, senior adviser at Acas, said although employers were entitled to monitor workers for various reasons including unsafe working practices or regulatory reasons, workers were “entitled to privacy at work” and therefore they should tell staff if they are being tracked.

He added: “There should be policies in place setting out what is and is not allowed. Workers should know if they are being monitored and they should know what is considered to be reasonable personal use.”

Time Doctor, a software company with 83,000 firms on its books, silently records apps and internet usage and takes screen grabs for managers, along with weekly reports.

Liam Mcivor Martin, its chief executive, denied that the software was used for snooping on workers, preferring to describe it as a “Fitbit for productivity”.

He claimed that KPMG and PWC were among its clients – both companies are listed on its website. But when approached for comment KPMG said it had no current record of its use. PWC said it did not use the tool in the UK.

Another popular tool is Currentwave, which monitors energy consumption along with internet history and time spent on Microsoft Excel or Word plus any work related programs. It lists a number of high-profile companies which it says are clients.

The software firm Sneek found itself the victim of a social media campaign when it emerged that it has the ability to take photos of employees via their laptop webcams every five minutes

‘It may be easy to forget that while working from home, your employer is still monitoring your activity’

to share with their team. Del Currie, its founder, said Sneek was a hit among its 11,000 clients, especially with firms whose colleagues worked in remote areas.

“It creates a virtual office vibe where, the same as in a physical office, you look around and you can see everyone,” he said.

“The whole aim of the app is to bring human contact back to remote teams and let them interact with each other. We are not in the business of spying on anyone or tracking users.”

Philip Landau, an employment lawyer, said: “It may be easy to forget that while working from home for unprecedented periods of time, your employer is still monitoring your activity via your workplace systems.

“While there may be a relaxation of such monitoring in the present unique circumstances, it would be wrong to think that no surveillance is taking place at all.

“Indeed, such monitoring could even be greater than before the lockdown.

“You can still face disciplinary action if it is found that you are in breach of your employer’s policies due to unreasonable personal use of your work computer.”