To think this is invasive?

[Sopharsogood]

We’ve been working on a hybrid basis but we’ve been told that when we work from home now, we must be on camera for the whole shift.
If we disagree, we have to work from the office full time.

AIBU to feel uncomfortable with this?

Absolutely not acceptable. This is your home. It also begs the question as to who will be sitting watching you all work.

You do, if you think about it for more than a second. It's sort of someone sitting on your desk, staring at your face, all day long, every day. Would that be invasive? Or just fine?
Only it's worse. It's someone staring at you all day long, but you don't know who, and you can't see or hear them, and they could be recording you.

If you don't see how that's invasive, I suggest you don't actually have a job, or the ability to have a job.

@ComeOnThenFanny
''Is it actually invasive though? If you were in the office for your shift, you'd be visible to everyone then, wouldn't you? What's the difference? And that's coming from someone who hates having the camera on!''

Of course it is invasive. It is your private home, not an office.

Also most people don't live alone so this would mean people at work could see images of their children, partners, parents, flatmates walking past invading their privacy...

Not everyone has a separate office space where they can be sure that the only person on camera will always be themselves.

Frankly I would immediately find a new employer of anyone tried to suggest this.

oops! tech hitch

If you joined a union you could phone their helpline for expert advice and were any work situations this escalate to the point of requiring help receive legal advice and union representation

unison.org

Start job hunting. It's totally unacceptable.

Many years ago I worked at a place with a lovely atmosphere where people were trusted to work and put the effort in and often over and above to get job done. We were taken over and the culture changed. When people start monitoring you for being 2 mins late logging on etc, then productivity goes down not up.

I'd just not do it. Do they really want to fire people for not being watched all day? Court case waiting to happen.

@antelopevalley : yes, my manager has zero issues as all our work is like that. There's never been any dispute about my output pre and post covid. I have had a couple of reasonable managers recently though so that helps

You really think someone will be employed to sit staring at each person’s face all day long? Sure the company has the money to employ one person per employee to stare at them all day.

This

This.

But people shouldn't be coming and going when you're working. You should be working.

False background

Lots of people I work with have family members passing briefly behind. They still work.

@luckylavender

''But people shouldn't be coming and going when you're working. You should be working.''

If people have flatmates or kids or don't have a spare room to lock themselves in they can't control who comes in and out.

I really find it strange how so many people will blindly follow and accept whatever their employers comes up with it.

It truly is bizarre to me.

If bosses also decided to fit staff with electronic tagging on their ankles or to inject them with a tracking decide so they could remotely monitor their movements to make sure they stay in the house and don't spend more than 30 minutes in their kitchen at lunch, I am sure some would also try to justify that.

At some point you have to ask why so many people are willing to be controlled by anyone who they think has a bit of authority.

If there is an issue with actual productivity and performance then that needs to be addressed with the individual(s) concerned.

Most of us want to be treated like responsible, capable adults and trusted to do the job.

this should read ''tracking device''.

Unless you wore an invisibility cloak in the office, I can’t see the problem.

Women are always dismissed in this way. You really think women do not get sexually harassed at work?

Does a false background eliminate other people?

Sexual harassment is different to someone wanking over you

unless your claim is that every day women at work are used as wank fodder in the workplace?

But the employee has no idea. Bored boss decides to spend a few hours flicking cameras between each employee. Bored boss decides to stare at employee he secretly fancies.
Employees would have no idea. In the office you can see if your boss is sitting staring at you. And you can go to HR about it. In this scenario you have no idea. You don't even know if you are being recorded.

If your boss unknowingly was wanking while watching a live feed of you at your desk, that would be sexual harassment.

In the real world the manager is way too busy to even bother checking and it’s likely just a deterrent. If the staff feel angry about this they need to contact the union and HR policy.

@Darbs76 If the manager is too busy to look then there is no point.
And I am serious. If my workplace introduced this I would get another job and while working my notice would wear a balaclava or scarf.

I'm reminded of a TV series where one character saved recordings of the camera of another. You'd have no way of knowing if that had happened to you. Then there's the issue of image manipulation etc. How many hours of footage would your company 'own' what would they do with that data?

If you burped or forgot you were in camera and sang a song about your emails, would it be passed around the office for others to laugh at?