Top 4 Things You Had No Idea Your Employer Has No Right to Do
An employer is a person with the authority to decide how much you get paid when you get your promotion and even what tasks you are in charge of. The problem lies in establishing where this authority ends, which is not always as simple as you think.
Just remember, some of these things are illegal in some countries, and others are illegal everywhere; however, we’re not discussing the legality. Instead, we’re focusing on the wrong types of behavior that some of the most toxic employers use, regardless of if they’re in the gray or completely black legal area.
Sometimes, this is even more difficult to understand when it comes to remote work. Why? Well, because in some areas, the employer engages in employee monitoring of sorts, it’s hard to separate personal time and work hours.
1. Spy on you
While some platforms insist on a time-tracking app, no employer has the right to track your devices or install spy apps on your phone. So, if you notice software from a list here on your device, and you have a reasonable suspicion that your employer installed it without your consent, you have to understand that this is not legal.
How does this happen?
Well, even in remote work, there are employers who provide the equipment. Let’s say that your laptop is too slow, and your employer decides to send you a new device. You may believe this to be oddly altruistic of them, but make no mistake; sometimes, it is just that.
It makes sense.
After all, it boosts your productivity, and there’s nothing wrong with it. It will pay itself off. However, it might be a good idea to do some digging through the device in order to see if there’s anything strange going on.
At the most, they have the right to install a time-tracking app in order to see if you’ve put in your work for the day. However, even this has its limits and limitations. They have to ask you (usually disclose this while hiring) or if they’re just introducing the feature, they have to notify you in advance (so that you can find gainful employment elsewhere if you disagree). The terms of the use of this tool need to be disclosed, as well.
2. Interfere with your personal life
Your employer has no right to expect constant availability. In fact, in Australia, it’s illegal for employers to contact workers after hours. This is the so-called Right to Disconnect law, and violating this could, potentially, even result in a prison sentence.
Non-work-related communication is not as bad as it seems. After all, if you were in the office, you would chat with your coworkers by the water cooler and share some personal stories. In a digital world, chatting about personal things with your coworkers in your own free time is permissible, and it may even be good for team unity and morale.
It’s, however, important to keep in mind that this is completely voluntary, and your employer has no right to demand it from you.
They also don’t have the right to dictate your habits or hobbies. Regardless if you’re a gym rat, an avid gamer, or a passionate gambler, this is completely on you. Sure, you can still decide to keep this private by not talking about it or, in the case of the latter, playing in anonymous casinos; however, it’s important that you understand that you don’t really have to. What you do in your private life is your own choice, and they have no right to discriminate against it.
Lastly, this may sound outlandish to you, but some employers require that they physically inspect the homes of their employees (who work from home). They have no right to do this without your consent and it’s really hard to see a reason why you would ever consent to such an invasion of privacy.
3. Retaliate against whistleblowers
A whistleblower is a person who reports unethical, illegal, or inappropriate conduct within a company or an organization. Aside from being an ethical thing to do, whistleblowers are crucial in keeping people engaging (or planning to engage) in this type of behavior on their toes.
Whistleblowers are heroes, but sadly, no heroic act ever goes without consequences. Whistleblowers often face retaliation.
When we say retaliation against whistleblowers, we don’t mean an immediate firing or suspicious string of deaths (we’ll avoid naming a certain aerospace manufacturer) but more subtle forms of sabotage.
For instance:
You may stop getting invited to business meetings that are clearly tied to your own line of work (meetings that you should have been invited to).
If you feel like you’re being excessively micromanaged (more than before), this could be because they’re reluctant to leave you unattended or because they want to have more control over you.
There are some tasks that no one likes doing, and this unfair workload distribution is one of the most indicative signs.
Unfair performance reviews are the most obvious, especially when you can find no ground in their claims (you know you’re doing a good job).
Subtle sabotage (giving you a task they know you’ll fail) so that they can review, bomb you, penalize you, or outright fire you is one of the most sinister moves you need to watch out for.
Naturally, these things happen even to those who are not whistleblowers but if this starts happening right after the event, it’s most likely that leaking this info is the cause.
4. Enforce unreasonable non-compete clauses
Non-competing clauses are the staple of the modern business world. With people changing so many jobs in their work lives and all within the same industry (how else could their CV benefit from their work experience), you would never be able to trust an employee with a company that is sacred without it.
However, just because they exist, they’re a standard thing to sign, and most of them are reasonable; this doesn’t mean that some employers don’t abuse this concept.
For instance, an employer may ask you to sign a non-compete clause that’s unreasonably long. Where the majority of these clauses don’t extend one or two years, they may ask you to sign one, barring you from working within the industry for five to ten years (not common, but it has happened before).
Another example of an unreasonable non-competing clause is one with a geographic scope that is too broad. Restricting an employee from working for a different reason when your company is not even present in the market is completely unreasonable and unfair.
Restricting non-competitive roles is also an example of an unfair restriction that makes little sense. In this scenario, your employer is either paranoid or retaliatory (and plans to punish you for leaving).
A lot of remote employees have no idea where the boundaries are
The truth is that office corporate culture is now decades old. This means that a lot of people understand it and know where the boundaries are. They know what kind of behavior is okay and what’s unacceptable. With remote work, things are not so easily defined. This concept is very young and a lot of people have a problem separating the real world from its digital equivalent. This is why it’s so important for every remote worker to inform themselves on these issues so that they can set clearer and more effective boundaries.