CFPB, NLRB team up to address employee surveillance and employer-driven debt

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the National Labor Relations Board are teaming up to jointly address employee surveillance and employer-driven debt. 

The two agencies said Tuesday that they signed an agreement to share information that would help address certain practices that harm workers and may run afoul of federal consumer protection laws, labor laws and regulations. The effort would address issues such as training repayment agreements that may saddle workers with debt by requiring workers to foot the bill for training and employee surveillance tools.

"Many workers discover that getting a job can mean piling up debt instead of making a living," CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a press release. "Information sharing with the National Labor Relations Board will support our efforts to end debt traps that stop workers from leaving one job for another."

The CFPB said that employees may not realize that employer surveillance tools that track productivity can continue to track them outside of working hours. Companies that own and use surveillance tools "might sell worker data to financial institutions, insurers, and other employers," the bureau said, noting that "certain actions by these surveillance companies may be violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act along with other consumer financial protection laws."

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Employee surveillance is widespread at call centers including those run by banks or third-party providers. Many employees that work from home use company computers whose keyboards track activity so they know how much work is being done. Personal computer cameras and keyboard software can monitor calls and measure productivity as well. 

"Employers' practices and use of artificial intelligence tools can chill workers from exercising their labor rights," NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo said in a press release. "As our economy, industries, and workplaces continue to change, we are excited to work with CFPB to strengthen our whole-of-government approach and ensure that employers obey the law and workers are able to fully and freely exercise their rights without interference or adverse consequences."

The CFPB and NLRB characterized the agreement as an effort to restore competition to consumer financial markets. The four-page memorandum of understanding describes safeguards to protect the confidentiality of the information. The agencies said that consumers and "honest businesses" can be harmed when anti-competitive financial practices are used to trap workers into jobs or when personal data is used to benefit certain firms.