How do you feel about ‘bossware’?

When workers fire up their laptops and peruse the latest offerings of a Gap flash sale that’s landed in their inbox, it’s possible that someone else is watching from afar.

This isn’t a Rear Window scenario, but one that’s been made possible by “bossware,” or software that’s able to track and monitor the digital activity of employees. Use of bossware exploded during the pandemic, leading to a climate of “productivity theater” and a host of bizarre workarounds such as mouse jigglers.

We asked HR Brew readers whether or not they’re investing in software that tracks the activity of remote employees to ensure productivity doesn’t lag. Among respondents, 9% said they’ve considered it, 16% said they already use it, and 75% said that’s not their style.

An audit looms? Bossware has become ubiquitous enough that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) included it in guidance issued earlier this month. Agency chair Charlotte Burrows told the Associated Press that if the technology uses AI that’s deemed biased then employers could violate workplace discrimination laws, and urged employers to audit their systems.

“I’m not shy about using our enforcement authority when it’s necessary,” she told the publication. “We want to work with employers, but there’s certainly no exemption to the civil rights laws because you engage in discrimination some high-tech way.”

ReTENSEion. Using bossware to stymie slacking doesn’t sit well with workers: One survey conducted by Morning Consult queried 750 workers and found that at least one in two tech employees would not accept a job at a company that surveilled them.

Though it leaves a sour taste for workers and could possibly dent retention, bossware may be somewhat inescapable for employees who work for big companies. JS Nelson, an associate professor at Villanova Law, told IT Brew last year: “Almost everybody who’s working for a company of over 500…should expect that they’re being surveilled.”