One of the detectives is a forensic computer analyst, who will recover E-mails and documents long ago erased. We have 22 offices worldwide, so there's probably always one going on somewhere. Companies not only have stepped up midnight raids but no longer hesitate to seek information on what was once assumed to be the private side of workers' lives. More than one third of the members of the American Management Association, the nation's largest management development and training organization, tape phone conversations, videotape employees, review voice mail, and check computer files and E-mail, a recent AMA report states. Scrutiny of job applicants has intensified, and this has fueled a boom in companies that do database searches of applicants' credit reports, driving and court records, and even workers' compensation claims.
Many companies regularly test for drugs.
Much of this occurs without the workers' knowledge. While companies say they collect information on their employees to comply with the law and protect their business interests, a recent survey of Fortune 500 companies showed that nearly half collect data on their workers without informing them. A majority said they share employee data with prospective creditors, landlords, and charities. Employers say they feel intense pressure from lawsuits of every sort. The number of sex, race, disability, and age-discrimination suits brought by workers has more than doubled from over 10,700 in 1992 to 23,000 in 1996.