New Report: How Employees Really Feel About Contact Tracing in the Workplace

As companies make plans to return to the office and address possible future Covid-19 outbreaks, many industry experts and academics have weighed in on the best methods and tools to combat the virus, protect workers, and secure bottom lines. We’ve even written a blog or two about the importance of data-driven, business-led contact tracing ourselves. But, there’s one group no one has heard much from: actual employees. A new report has shed some light, helping companies understand how their employees feel about returning to the office, and what they expect to feel safe.

The report, detailing surveys conducted by The Harris Poll and Workplace Intelligence, paints a surprising picture: not only do a majority of employees expect their employers to commit to workplace health and safety, many are more than comfortable with contact tracing led by their employers. Let’s dive into the former: Globally, 3 in 4 employees say they trust their employer to create a physically safe and healthy work environment, with North Americans putting more trust in their employers than Europeans. To earn that trust during a global pandemic, that means companies must implement things like socially-distant desks, hand sanitizing stations, staggered working times, and, in preparation for a possible outbreak, plans for contact tracing.

So, how do employees feel about contact tracing itself? In short, they’re onboard with it. According to the report, a whopping 86% of the global workforce expressed some level of comfort with employer-led contact tracing. In addition, nearly 9 in 10 U.S. workers believe their employer has an “obligation” to notify employees who may have been in contact with a co-worker who tested positive for Covid-19. These numbers suggest that employees’ safety concerns may outweigh the privacy issues that have dominated the news.

However, there are many different methods of contact tracing, and different methods create varying degrees of risk to employees’ data and privacy. So, where do workers draw the line? According to the report, 51% of workers in the U.S. are comfortable with employers using access control and workplace movement records to contact trace, which suggests a tech-based contact tracing solution might work well. That said, far fewer - only 40% of US workers - are comfortable allowing their employer to leverage their mobile device for contact tracing purposes. That low percentage - a number that is, importantly, not high enough to reach an effective adoption rate - suggests that employers need to find a non-app tech-based solution. 

There's a simple alternative: wearables. Wearables offer companies the hard data they need to effectively contact trace, without using employees’ personal smartphone data to do so. As organizations in the U.S. continue to return to the office, it’s important for businesses to listen to employee concerns to ensure a smooth reopening. 

At Proxfinity, we understand the importance of putting employees first. That’s why we created the ResCUE: a contact tracing wearable system that utilizes hardware and software to allow for effective workplace contact tracing, without compromising employee privacy. The ResCUE requires no personal identifiable information and no signal whatsoever, so your employees can be comfortable and confident that their data is safe when they return to work. On the back end, our system provides real-time analytics to help your company isolate cases before they become outbreaks. It’s the best of both worlds.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to put employees’ minds at ease, request a pilot.

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