COVID EMPLOYEE SURVEILLANCE

It’s like clockwork: When the economy takes a dip, people tend to do bad things like stealing time, money and/or product from their employers.

You would think in this virus-depressed economy, my team of private investigators would be extremely busy with investigations of employees.  Candidly, nothing was further from the truth.

On March 14, 2020, the calls, emails and requests for services just stopped.   It’s not surprising, given that 30 million plus people in the U.S. have filed for unemployment benefits.  Nobody was at work to steal.

But a strange thing occurred around April 15, 2020.

These executives were not working from home… they were on the golf course or out enjoying their watercraft.

We began receiving numerous requests from corporations and businesses regarding our surveillance criteria and cost. Most inquiries came from Human Resources Departments or a similar person in the office of the Vice-President of Operations: They wanted their high-level executives followed during working hours.

After many years in the investigative business, I was taken back by these requests.

They became even more frequent as April turned into May.

The common complaint was that these executives were not working from home as instructed and they were often hard to get on the phone or having meetings via Skype and Zoom.

At first, I thought that since we can’t see inside an executive’s home – so what would be the point of an investigation?

Interestingly, these companies had received feedback that some employees were on the golf course while others were out enjoying their watercraft. Some took long motorcycle rides during the day. Some honchos actually went to other executive’s homes for early cocktail hours and what appeared to possibly be sexual relations.

These surveillance jobs were similar to shooting fish in a barrel. None of these men or women probably even had a clue that their company would initiate such a program. With traffic being minimal in most cities, following was very simple. Video of all their activities and a full report was provided to the corporate headquarters the very next day.

The consequences for these executives for engaging in paid vacations was severe and swift. Many were terminated while others had their pay significantly reduced if not totally eliminated.

If you are an employee fortunate enough to have an employer that is paying you to work at home, you should be very grateful. You should be totally committed to their graciousness and devoted to the highest of work ethics.

If you are an attorney, accountant, executive or any employee from the highest echelons to the lowest or newest employee, let me be clear in my warning to you. If my investigators follow you and you are not behaving ethically, we’ll catch you.

This service has been a straightforward way for companies to clearing their houses of employees who are leaners and not lifters.

Martin Investigative Services is a transparent agency and has set the surveillance rates certainly in the Southern California area for over four decades. We charge $150.00/hour, $0.95/mile and we work in four-hour minimums.

A lot of companies are more than willing to spend $750.00 to takeout the deadwood and thankless employees.