When employers become watchers
Imagine if today at work you were watched for every single minute.
Not just when you arrived and left, or when you went for your lunch. But every task, every conversation, every moment observed and logged. Modern surveillance can offer that and many employers find it attractive. Andy Loizou lost his job after getting back from his break a few minutes late. It was one a series of incidents logged by his employer, the AA. Andy's patrol-van was connected to the company's computer.
GPS technology allowed his bosses to know where he was, what he was doing and how long it was taking. "It's like big brother watching over you", says Andy. "If you wanted to go to the toilet and you just went, you had to think - 'did I do the right thing, should I have told somebody or was it too long?'" he added.
