PwC has introduced a traffic-light dashboard to monitor employees’ attendance in the office, taking data from swipe cards and WiFi connections.
Partners and managers can monitor people’s attendance at PwC offices on a dashboard, which went live in April, that displays red when attendance is below 40%, amber for 40-60%, and green when attendance is above 60%. Employees can also view their own data.
Staff monitoring
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PwC sent an email to 26,000 employees in September 2024 to inform workers that, from January 2025, it will start tracking them in the same way it monitors how many chargeable hours they work.
It said its staff must work at least 60% of their time in PwC offices or at its clients’ sites. Staff who breach the policy can face formal sanctions, with performance evaluations and bonuses potentially affected, according to guidance seen by the Financial Times.
A senior PwC staff member told the FT they had “lost count” of the number of colleagues who had raised concerns. Another said employees had sought more transparency as the firm began “pushing hard” to improve office attendance.
A PwC spokeswoman said: “There are clear benefits to in-person work for both our people and clients, and we have seen these borne out since adjusting our approach to hybrid working at the beginning of this year.
“The dashboard ensures our people have easy access to their attendance data, so they can manage and plan their time in a way that works for them, our teams and our clients. We remain committed to flexibility, including the option for people to condense their usual working hours and finish early on Friday lunchtime for six weeks in the summer.”
Stephen Simpson, principal HR strategy and practice editor at Brightmine, said: “There’s no law against employers using monitoring tools to track their employees, especially when it comes to enforcing rules such as tracking the number of days people work in specific locations. These tools are particularly useful for larger organisations with multiple offices in different locations, such as PwC’s offices, so it’s no surprise they are implementing this measure.”
But he warned that employers should consider the data protection implications of these tools. Under GDPR, employers must conduct a data protection impact assessment when launching a new system or changing an existing one – especially if there is a high risk to employees’ rights and freedoms.
“Beyond the legal requirements, employers should also highlight the positive uses of these tools,” explained Simpson. “For example, they can help ensure employees aren’t working excessive hours or being contacted by colleagues or managers outside of their normal working hours. This may be useful if the UK government introduces the ‘right to disconnect’ act, meaning employers cannot reach out to employees after working hours.”
Monitoring tools can also create an atmosphere of mistrust, he warned, as employees may feel their employer doubts their ability to manage their time.
“Ultimately, it’s about communication. Employers looking to implement these tools should clearly explain why they are being introduced to ease any anxiety employees may have about being monitored and to assure them that the tools are meant to help, not hinder, their work experience,” he said.
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