Yesterday I wrote down my thoughts about when it sometimes makes sense for government to get involved in the business world.
But if the government doesn’t get involved to make things better, well, that simply can’t be a hall pass for companies to act badly towards their employees.
This morning I read on Techmeme that RIM records all employee phone calls. All of them.
I know many companies also do the same with employee email.
This has got to stop.
In bad markets and downturns, we all need to step up. Investors, employees and employers and need to act better, not worse. Life is hard enough for most people.
Companies have plenty of protection/assurances against rogue employee behavior. They can fire them at will. They have invention assignment clauses, they have non-solicitation agreements, they have lawyers, they have NDAs, etc.
Maybe it’s time employees get a bill of rights or something :)
(update: I understand for certain things like customer service in the financial world we need to record calls. my beef here with RIM is that this surveillance is a blanket program for all employees).