81. Employees distrust their human colleagues
Many employees are embracing artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace because they are distrusting their managers and colleagues.
As many as 64% of workers say they would trust a robot over their manager, based on the joint study from US technology company Oracle and research firm Future Workplace. Meanwhile, more than half say they have already turned to a robot for advice instead of their manager.
The phenomenon is especially pronounced in Asia, where employees expressed a disproportionate distrust in their human colleagues when compared to technology. For example, 89% of workers in India and 88% of those in China admitted to trusting robots over their managers. The two gargantuan labor forces were joined by workers
in Singapore (83%), Brazil (78%), Japan (76%), Australia and New Zealand (58%), the US (57%), the U.K. (54%) and France (56%) in trusting robots over their managers.
82. Employees are being spied on by their employers
When employees sign up for any form of employment, they sign away some of their freedoms. When they are on company time and using their employers’ computers, employers are permitted to read their emails, log their keystrokes, and watch their work. The Guardian reported that journalists at British newspaper The Telegraph found little black boxes installed under their desks.
Employees should assume that they are going to be watched or spied upon by their employers. No doubt, there will be some degree of invasion of privacy.
Employers could be monitoring their employees’ activities on social media and company-issued phones (including enabling GPS tracking) and tracking their employees through good old-fashioned surveillance cameras (which usually happens in retail and restaurants).
Electronic surveillance of employees is increasing every year according to the Electronic Monitoring and Surveillance Survey conducted by the American Management Association (AMA) and The ePolicy Institute each year between 2001 and 2007.
In the US, it’s perfectly legal to record what happens in the workplace. Bloomberg said that “employers can do any kind of monitoring they want in the workplace that doesn’t involve the bathroom.”
83. Employees impacted by their social media activities
A CareerBuilder survey revealed that nearly half of employers check up on current employees on social media. A third of employers have reprimanded or fired an employee based on content found online.
Employees must be careful of what they post on social media.
84. Employees receive cyber threats and trolls
Employees do receive cyber threats or trolls as part of their work especially politicians and journalist.
Internet trolls are most active on social media with 38% observed trolling behavior on such platforms. Sixty-three percent of internet trolls in the US prefer to engage in political topics. Other popular subject matters are celebrities (52%) and religion (48%).
Trolls seek to rile online communities and attract attention to themselves by leaving inflammatory public comments, while cyberbullies just want to use the Internet to hurt their victims.
Employees need to have social media self-defense against trolls that causes mental health issues. They can take an employer to court for emotional damage if their employers do not have the appropriate programs in place to support them.
85. Employer shares employee’s personal information
Employers routinely disclose employees’ personal information to other companies for business purposes – such as the administration of payroll and health benefits by an outsourced provider.
In some jurisdictions, it is lawful when requested as part of a reference check for employers to give prospective employers certain personal information about a former employee. Specifically, employers may inform prospective employers about a former employee’s training, experience, qualifications, job performance and the reason the employment ended.
Employers may even be legally required to advise prospective employers and others with a need to know about an employee’s termination if the employee was discharged for violent behavior, theft, sexual misconduct or other misconduct that might endanger the health or safety of third parties.
86. Employees are spied on by their colleagues
A survey found that a shocking number of Americans admitted to creeping on other people’s laptops and phone screens without their knowledge. A large number (82%) of respondents said that they crept on people’s devices without them knowing.
Of concern is that nearly all office workers — four in five — admitted to creeping on co-worker’s computer screens.
87. Employees’ pay details are being exposed
A growing number of employers will tell on you. Countries like Finland, Sweden and Norway already publish precise pay and tax details for all workers.
In the UK, public salary discussions have traditionally been a taboo. Yet 56% of UK workers want to make earnings information publicly available.
Internationally, 27% of HR professionals say their company shares its salary ranges with employees or candidates – a step on the road to full pay transparency – and 22% say they are likely to start within five years.
88. Employees experience wage theft
According to WageTheft.org, the common forms of wage theft are non-payment of overtime, not giving workers their last paycheck after a worker leaves a job, not paying for all the hours worked, not paying minimum wage, and even not paying a worker at all. It’s the denial of wages or employee benefits that are rightfully owed to an employee.
In the US, the Economic Policy Institute found that wage theft affects 17% of low-wage workers. 2.4 million workers lose $8 billion annually or an average of $3,300 per year to minimum wage violations. That represents nearly a quarter of their earned wages.
Sydney Morning Herald reported a landmark study that found wage theft is endemic across Australia with a quarter of international students and a third of backpackers earning $12 or less per hour, which is around half the legal minimum wage.
89. Employees not paid in money
Employees are entitled to be paid in money, not in kind, for the work they do for their employer.
Unfortunately, some employers in the hospitality industry are found to pay part of their employees’ or workers’ wages in the form of meals, drinks, and even snacks. These employees can be employed to work as food and beverage attendants, cooks, and kitchen attendants.
90. Employers can be non-compliant with workplace laws
Employers are expected to comply with all applicable workplace laws including health and safety and underpayment of vulnerable or migrant workers.
These laws are there to protect employees in workplaces against employer exploits and mismanagement. They also protect employees from injuries and accidents that may cause death or permanent disabilities.