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watched at work. There is no moment that they have at work where they are not subject to surveillance of some sort. We're all on the clock here.
Workplaces across the nation use surveillance to monitor the efficiency of their workers. At this industrial laundry, workers can see if they're keeping pace. Prior to having any sort of counting system in place, the staff didn't know whether or not they were performing well or not. So at least the staff get a visual aspect to say, "Right, I'm in the range of where I need to be. I'm working at the right pace."
Productivity is up 5%, but safety is one of the biggest benefits. The screens make sure workers take more breaks during hot weather and rotate through different roles. Previously, it was relied upon a pen and paper and a supervisor to make sure everyone was shifting around, but we had no recorded data of what their movements were.
Workers have always been watched. What's changed is the creep of workplace devices into the home and the unchecked analytical power of AI tools that are extending the reach of employers. Nicole Mcferson represents finance workers. She says they're the most scrutinized in the nation. So from the moment that they swipe their swipe card to get into the office to the moment that they leave at the end of the day, almost every single moment is subject to workplace surveillance. She says is the use of key logging software that counts and analyzes how staff use their keyboard and mouse. Means human interactions like thinking and talking aren't counted. They reduce us down to just a series of numbers and the outputs that we can create that are measurable, and it really doesn't put enough importance on the other types of outputs that we create as working people.
Business groups say surveillance can deter inappropriate behavior and ensure compliance with laws such as paying employees their correct hours. And in the end, it's employers who are on the hook, uh, for any wrongdoing or, uh, mistakes that are made, accidents that occur, uh, what's said and written, uh, within the workplace. In the end, it's employers who pay the price.
Unions are less convinced, dragging Boeing Australia to the industrial umpire when plain maintenance staff were having their efficiency scored on screens in the workplace. It was increasing their stress, straining their relationship with their co-workers because it itself could in invite some comparisons, which we think was part of the intention, leading to concerns about quality. And if they're having to rush because of the pressure that they feel because of the monitoring and the displaying of that monitoring, we had grave concerns that mistakes would, uh, be made or omissions would happen.
An inquiry in New South Wales and an ongoing investigation in Victoria have found a range of apps and technologies are extending surveillance of workers into their cars and homes. Governments around the nation are working out how to balance the safety and compliance benefits of workplace surveillance against the right of workers to switch off from being watched. At the moment, overlapping state, territory, and federal laws collide. It certainly is a patchwork. I think of it as a spaghetti bowl of, uh, laws, really.
A review has recommended giving workers more transparency of and protection from surveillance. We need to make sure that we get the balance right between, uh, what's good for the workplace and workers as well as respecting privacy. In many cases, at the laundry, the boss says staff appreciate being monitored, making sure that they're being looked after and not pushed too far, and and making sure that they're they're not working at too slow a pace as well. That's letting down the rest of the team members, helping everyone get away clean. [Music]