Monitoring of workplace activities is growing. Phone calls, email messages and log-ons to the internet are increasingly surveyed by employers, according to a recent report in the New York Times.

This year, the number of companies which operated at least one form of surveillance of workers rose to 66%, from 45% last year, according to an American Management Association (AMA) survey. If monitoring of internet use is included, which is new for this year, the proportion of companies rises to three-quarters.

The tracking of internet use is more common than any other office activity, mainly due to the fact that the potential for visiting inappropriate sites is so great. Checking on phone calls – which number and to whom – comes in second place, whilst actually listening in on conversations is found much further down the list.

Most of the companies (85%) told employees of the monitoring, but workers should be reminded, according to Ellen Bayer of the AMA: "It has to permeate more levels than just posting it in an email. You need to disseminate in numerous channels – and then reinforce it."

Workplace monitoring can lead to disciplinary action. Misuse of email or the internet was more likely to result in dismissals, even though telephone misuse accounted for a larger percentage of punishments over all, according to the survey.

Anna Lagerkvist