Get someone to take a picture of you working at your desk, and then hang the picture in front of the camera.
or, hang a small mirror in front of the camera - let 'em watch themselves, as it were…
or keep wirecutters handy…
Well, performing any actual sabotage would only get me fired. Ideally, I’d like to find a legal hook to keep my employer from staring at me. I haven’t been able to find much encouraging; there don’t seem to be any state or federal laws against this shit. In a country where I could probably sue Dairy Queen for contributing to my diabetes, there must be a way to keep from submitting to being monitored like a convict.
There are articles about this issue, such as
http://cobrands.smallbiz.findlaw.com/operations/technology/faq165.html
Yeah, it’s awful when they expect you to actually work instead of surfing the Net. I don’t know where it will end.
Baldwin,
Start looking for another job NOW! Why would you want to continue to work for a company that shits on you by telling you that that they don’t trust you. Sure, you might raise a stink and successfully get that camera removed, but guess what? You’ll be the asshole in conversations among upper management. Damn, I hate corporations that have no respect for their employees.
Just a thought, but if the camera is directly overhead, it won’t be able to see YOU, now, will it? Unless it can swivel itself straight down. Or have I just watched one too many Mission Impossible reruns?
Fuck ya and yer lame-ass excuses. A lot of us work very hard at what we do, and take our jobs with utmost seriousness.
These kind of senseless ‘security’ measures cater to executives who are either paranoid, or just greedy. Making sure that people stay on task is management’s (or in some cases, the project leader’s) responsibility. Taking action against employees who abuse company time and resources is everyone’s responsibility. A lot of nice people out there don’t deserve to have the goddamn faceless electric eye making them feel scrutinized at every single moment.
People shouldn’t automatically be treated as slackers or criminals. If anything, if a person’s been working hard, he or she’d probably -benefit- from taking a few moments to read up on the news or play a quick game of freecell. And a good employee should be able to do so without people like you breathing down their neck or breakin’ their ass over it. And they definately shouldn’t be subjected to the constant, vigilant, coldness of electric surveillence, especially right down into their workstation.
Well, if enough people quit over this the boss will get the message and either change his mind or will raise the salary to the point where people are willing to put up with it.
It’s a contract between two parties. Each one can propose whatever they want and the other side is free to accept or reject it. If the boss says he wants you in a pink tutu you can accept or reject depending on pay and other conditions. If you say you want internet breaks then he can accept or reject that based on how much he wants you or needs you. Simple as that. I cannot see why anybody is entitled to work in a certain place any more than why a company would be entitled to my work if I did not want to work there. If you don’t like the conditions then quit. if enough people quit they will get the message. If you are essential even just your threat might change things.
Not to be a Pollyanna, but is it possible the camera is for off-hour security, because they’re afraid of a break-in, rather than for monitoring the employees?
I want to address the OP. As far as I know, you won’t find anything telling you what you want to hear. Your employee owns the property and goods and generally has a legal right to monitor its property. Your right is to protest their decision or find other employment. You might not like those choices, but they are the choices you have.
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If it’s trasmitting a wireless signal, you could build a crystal oscillator for about $10 that will broadcast over the same frequency and drown out it’s signal.
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If it’s hardwired your probably screwed but you could try putting something with a high electromagnetic field by it to see if it’ll screw it up.
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Get one of those laser pointer thingies and point it at the camera.
I figure, if it’s gonna be hell for you to sit under the thing, make it hell for them to watch you.
I figure you develop a really unpleasant personal habit such as digging ticks and fleas and wax out of your ears, or scratching a ringworm infection on your scalp, or grow a big pussy boil on your neck with a yellow crusty worm just oozing and pushing itself out.
They’ll never zoom in again…
I agree. In fact, all executives of the company should have a camera just like this where all other employees can watch to make sure that the executive is working hard. The company spends much money on them and we need to make sure they are working hard. If they truely are working hard, they wouldn’t object to the camera…
Seriously, nobody will probably really be looking at those tapes. The camera is there to make you uncomfortable and therefore work harder.
They will be looked at by actual humans when they wish to get rid of you without severance pay and without having to pay unemployment. They will look at every minute and pick out the ones where you weren’t working hard and say you were fired with cause. I’ve seen this with student evaluations at the college level. Want to get rid of a professor of 20 years? Well, take out the 200 really negative student evaluations and harp on them while ignoring the 50,000 good ones.
Good thought; that would be reasonable, although we’ve already got security guards and several layers of electronically locked doors. I guess we’ll find out. (Actually, I’m home sick today; perhaps I’ll know more tomorrow.)
If they really want to protect the company from loss, they should be monitoring the executives and accountants.
Did it! Also got pinkeye and scrofula. I don’t think I could possibly pick my nose more than I already do. I’m going to have to start putting stuff in there just to take it out.
No, don’t quit! You’re missing an oppertunity for HUMOR!
Well humor in the form of utterly abusing someone you don’t have to work with directly.
step one:
Adjust the camera so it shows your work space, specifically your desk.
step two: lunch–the revulsion begins!
Take our your sandwich and unwrap it, but first look around like you’re trying to hide something. Because you are!
Now quickly, descretely pick your nose! Then lift that slice of bread and wipe your finger clean on it, making a lovely healthy meal!
step three: bait and switch
without replacing the top slice of bread quickly turn around like something happened out of camera frame, then while your body obscures the camera view, drop the booger smeared piece of bread and grab a clean one. Now turn around and giving the camera a NICE image, yum that baby up!
step four: The pay off
After doign this for a few days, wander around making eye contact with all of the security guards you can, try to see which ones look away.
“Sailor, saying that workers can always quit has been used historically to excuse any abuses an employer cared to impose or allow.”
Indeed. Not to mention, I could have sworn that you said that it would be difficult for you to quit because of the medical insurance. Then, of course, quitting means assuming that others jobs may be any better or any different. Even if such jobs exist, there’s also the fact that you’re not guarenteed to get that particular job. That said, I agree mostly with BlinkingDuck, speaking of which:
“Want to get rid of a professor of 20 years? Well, take out the 200 really negative student evaluations and harp on them while ignoring the 50,000 good ones.”
This doesn’t surprise me…
i should have mentioned that otherwise, it’s been a pretty good place to work. Good benefits, a good 401-K (took a dive last year, but has come back), “business casual” dress code; usually they don’t bother us, which is the way I like management.
So this is more of a fly in the ointment than a last straw. Also, I don’t know if this is being imposed by the corporate office in New York; that’s entirely possible, in which case my department manager wouldn’t have much choice, and I’d probably have bugger all chance of getting anything done about it.
I almost feel I should apologize for this thread because I popped off as soon as I heard about this; I should have waited for the details I don’t have yet.
I’m going to Plan B: become a successful novelist and kiss the corporate world goodbye. (Note to self: write novel…)
If it was me, I would let your boss know that having a camera pointed at you makes you uncomfortable and makes for a less pleasant work environment. Not that it’s unjust or will change your work habits, just that you don’t enjoy the idea of being on camera all the time. Ask other employees first to see what they think, before you talk to him. I think if multiple employees expressed discomfort with the cameras in a reasonable way, it could make a difference, depending on your boss.
Or not. In which case you should do all of your work under a big tarp.