A company is implementing a new monitoring system for remote workers that tracks keyboard activity, takes random screenshots, and monitors application usage throughout the workday. Management argues this will ensure productivity. The IT department has raised concerns about the invasiveness of the system and suggested alternatives that balance accountability with privacy.If the company wants to apply a deontological approach, which of the following monitoring practices is most appropriate?

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question restatement: A company is adopting a remote-work monitoring system with keylog tracking, random screenshots, and app usage, aiming to boost productivity. The IT team suggests privacy-respecting, accountable alternatives. If applying a deontological approach, which monitoring practice is most appropriate?

Option a: Monitor only final work outputs rather than processes, respecting employee autonomy while ensuring accountability.
- This choice emphasizes outcomes (final results) over process monitoring, and it acknowledges autonomy by not tracking ongoing activity. However, a deontological perspective also stresses respecting inherent dignity and reasonable privacy in how one is treated during work. Limiting monitoring to outputs can reduce intrusion, but it may still fail to address broader concerns about consent, transparency, and the role of workers as ends in themselves. The reasoning here is partially aligned with deontological emphasis on autonomy, but it does not fully articulate or guarantee respect for dignity and privacy in all monitoring aspects.

Option b: Use only activity metrics that respect employee dignity and privacy, avoiding invasive monitoring like screenshots or continuous tracking.
- This choice foregrounds dignity and privacy as the guiding principles, aligning with deontological ethics that emphasize treating individuals as ends and respecting their rights. It rejects invasive tactics (screenshots, continuous tracking) and focuses on non-intrusive metrics, which is consistent with respecting employees as moral agents. The approach aims to balance accountability with respect for personhood, a core deontological concern. The reasoning supports choosing measures that protect autonomy and privacy while still enabling some form of accountability through appropriate metrics.

Option c: Implement full monitoring since employers have a right to verify work is being performed during paid hours.
- This option centers on an employer's claim of a right to monitor, often supported by business interests or contract terms. From a deontological standpoint, however, mere entitlement or utility does not justify invasive practices that treat employees as mere means or violate their dignity. Full monitoring can be highly intrusive and may fail to respect the intrinsic worth of workers, making this option inconsistent with deontological ethics unless there are strong, explicit consent and protective safeguards—which the choice does not demonstrate.

Option d: Allow employees to opt out of monitoring if they meet performance targets.
- This proposal introduces an opt-out mechanism, which might seem to respect choice, but it creates coercive pressure: performance targets as a condition to avoid monitoring can implicitly coerce agreement to invasive practices or to accept heightened scrutiny in exchange for non-invasive treatment. From a deontological view, freedom of consent and voluntary participation are important, but tying opt-out to performance pressure can undermine genuine autonomy. Furthermore, it may still fail to ensure consistent dignity-respecting practices for all employees, not just those who meet targets.

Summary: In analyzing each option through a deontological lens, option b most clearly aligns with the duty to respect human dignity and privacy, avoiding invasive monitoring while preserving accountability. The other options either introduce or justify invasive practices, or rely on coercive or conditional arrangements that compromise true autonomy and respect for persons.

25_4 MGT3600 Ethical Leadership & Moral Development

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