Telecommuters, beware. Employers are increasingly monitoring their remote workers to find out what they're really up to.

        Bosses are watching where telecommuters and business travelers go online, what they say in their e-mail, even how often they type on their keyboards. The long arm of Big Brother is reaching further as employee surveillance increases and new technology makes monitoring workers easier.

        What employers can do:

        • Block Internet sites. Employers may restrict remote workers from visiting Web sites devoted to non-business topics, such as shopping.

        • Monitor where remote workers go online. Employees working remotely who connect through company servers may find their Web surfing monitored. Companies can compile a profile on each user based on where they're going online.

        • Read employees' e-mail. Employers in many cases can read e-mail containing certain words. In addition to tracking Web sites, a product launched about two months ago by Exton, Pa.-based Pearl Software allows employers to read e-mail sent by remote workers through the company Net connection.

        • Count keystrokes. Companies that have large numbers of customer-service representatives working at home are using technology that allows them to measure keystrokes to ensure work is actually being done.

        At Underground Service Alert of Southern California, more than 30 service representatives work from home while the company keeps tabs.

        “The supervisor can monitor what the conversation is, what the keystrokes are. It's all real time,” says Ron Olit sky, president of the Corona, Calif.-based firm that provides information on where underground lines are located. “If the customer-service representative spends 20 minutes (on a break) after taking a call, that's all monitored.”

        Such monitoring is often possible as long as an employee accesses a company server to get into the Internet or use e-mail, but some new products don't require that.

        The decision on whether to monitor is often made by the CEO or high-level managers.

        Remote monitoring is part of a trend toward more surveillance. Nearly 80 percent of large companies record and review employee communication, according to a survey this year by the American Management Association, which reports that the figure has doubled since 1997.

        “An employee who's telecommuting and logged into the system is no different than one sitting in the office,” says Robert Shwarts, an employment lawyer in Menlo Park, Calif. “There is no different expectation of privacy.”

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