Michael VanDervort’s Latest SHRM Column Tackles Wearable Tech at Work
In a recent SHRM article titled Wearable Tech Is Already in Your Workplace. Is Your Policy Ready? Michael VanDervort broke down three issues employers need to get ahead of before smart glasses and other wearables outpace their policies:
The Recording Risk Hiding in Plain Sight
- You can’t spot the recording device anymore: Smart glasses look like ordinary eyewear, and employees may already own a pair, request one as a disability accommodation, or be issued one for work. A fixed security camera is disclosed and recognized for what it is; a pair of glasses that happens to record isn’t.
Why a Blanket Ban Runs Into NLRB Trouble
- A blanket no-recording rule has its own risk: The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB’s) current Stericycle standard presumes overly broad recording bans chill protected activity, and NLRB General Counsel Memo 25-07 treats surreptitious recordings of bargaining sessions as a violation of the duty to bargain in good faith. Bargaining and grievance meetings need to be treated as no-recording zones, with wearables on the same checklist as phones and laptops.
The ADA Twist Employers Miss
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) angle catches employers off guard: An employee who shows up with a prescription for smart glasses and asks to wear them at work can’t be turned down on recording concerns alone. That requires an individualized accommodation analysis instead of a reflexive no.
Neurotech is already showing up in U.S. workplaces too, in fatigue-tracking headbands and brain-computer interfaces that translate neural signals into digital commands. States are moving to regulate the neural data these devices collect, and the questions it raises make smart glasses look manageable by comparison.
Read the full article on SHRM:
Wearable Tech Is Already in Your Workplace. Is Your Policy Ready?
