How the Commonwealth Bank is monitoring how often workers click their mouses and show up at their desks – and forcing staff to apply for leave if they aren’t doing enough
- Commonwealth Bank made a $5.15b profit in second half of 2022
- Bank confirmed it was using a tracking app to monitor staff
The Commonwealth Bank is cracking down on workers trying to slack off by using a sneaky app that tracks exactly how often they’re using their mouse and when they’re physically at their desk.
The bank, which made $5.15billion profit in the second half of 2022, is using an app called Navigate that tracks mouse clicks and movements and monitors how often a person is sitting in front of their computer.
The finance giant confirmed it was collecting data on its employees through the app.
The bank is also reportedly using office attendance and computer use data to question absenteeism such as taking an early mark or a long lunch and has ordered some staff to take leave if they aren’t doing enough, The Australian reported.
The Commonwealth Bank said the Navigate app was used so staff can ‘access the building where they work, book meeting rooms and find their colleagues’ but isn’t used by the entirety of the bank’s 48,000 staff.
The Commonwealth Bank, which made $5.15billion profit in the second half of 2022, is cracking down on its workers. Pictured is a woman at an office desk
A Commonwealth Bank spokesman said the app had been ‘useful’ in being aware of what its staff were doing.
‘The information we collect has been useful in ensuring our people stay in touch in the various ways of work we support at CBA or, for example, to record the appropriate type of leave taken when our employees take leave or are off work,’ the spokesman said.
‘This has been especially helpful throughout and post-Covid as people have returned to the office, allowing us to better manage space in our corporate offices.’
Far from shirking work, the Finance Sector Union (FSU), which many of CBA’s 48,000 staff are members of, said the bank’s staff were overworked and underpaid.
The FSU said last month a survey it carried out was a ‘damning indictment’ on how the bank chased profits at the expense of workers.
‘CBA staff are doing more for less – dealing with increasing workload demands due to rampant understaffing while struggling with increasing cost of living pressures,’ FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano told news.com.au.
‘Having insufficient staff means that staff are overworked and customers are having to wait longer to do their banking.’
Commenters online broadly agreed with CBA’s crackdown on its staff working hours.
‘I think CBA has a legitimate supervision tool there. Keep up the good work and get rid of those not pulling their weight,’ said one.
CBA is using an app called Navigate that tracks mouse clicks and how often a person shows up at their desk, and ordering staff to take leave if they aren’t doing enough. An empty office is pictured
The Commonwealth Bank’s (logo pictured) staff are overworked and customers are having to wait longer to do their banking, the Finance Sector Union said
‘As a shareholder, I would prefer that CBA sacks the slacks. And perhaps the spotlight should also fall on those managers on whose watch this took place,’ another said.
One commenter, though, said the bank should also use the information gathered from the app to pay some workers more.
‘Fair enough, you want your employees to be productive and not pay when slacking off. Then also pay extra when your employees are working additional hours’ they said.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Commonwealth Bank for further clarification, but its spokesman refused to comment.
