In episode 180, Coffey and Patrick Richter discuss recent HR news items about remote worker fraud and employee monitoring. They discuss North Korean operatives using stolen identities to infiltrate U.S. companies through remote work positions; the growing trend of “over-employed” individuals secretly working multiple full-time remote jobs; the rise of technology tools like mouse jigglers to deceive employer monitoring systems; the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recent position that employee-monitoring-software firms are consumer reporting agencies; the importance of proper employment verification and cybersecurity measures for remote workers; the importance of managing remote employee performance rather than simply monitoring activity; legal implications of employee monitoring on personal devices; and the critical role of consistent policy enforcement in remote work environments.   Here are some of the news items they discussed:

• US claims North Korea put workers in US companies to extort money for weapons 
• Fourteen North Korean Nationals Indicted for Carrying Out Multi-Year Fraudulent Information Technology Worker Scheme and Related Extortions
• FBI Warns of Rise in Work-From-Home Scams
•  Overemployment Reddit: Wife’s company threatening termination for using a mouse jiggler. Any tips to avoid detection?
•  (Don’t) Buy a “mouse jiggler” on Amazon
•  Remote Employee Monitoring Software Is the Wrong Solution for Absenteeism
•  CFPB warns of workplace tracking technology in US firms
•  Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2024-06
•  Employee lawsuit accuses Apple of spying on its workers

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Patrick Richter

Patrick is an experienced mediator, litigator, and employment attorney with expertise ranging from first chair trial lawyer to advisor on mergers and acquisitions to counselor on the full spectrum of day-to-day HR issues. As an employment lawyer, he has significant experience representing employers and employees with wage & hour issues, class and collective actions, and intellectual property and trade secret issues, including non-disclosure agreements and covenants not to compete—both in the drafting and preparation of the underlying agreements as well as litigation and appeals. He also has considerable experience with matters before the National Labor Relations Board and in assisting employers with union avoidance. Apart from employment-related matters, He is a certified mediator and has significant experience with non-patent intellectual property litigation, commercial litigation, and corporate transactions -including mergers and acquisitions and venture capital investments. No matter the issue — from sensitive employee termination issues to high-level harassment investigations, to protection of trade secrets — he partners with his clients to help them achieve their business objectives while minimizing legal risks and obstacles.

Contact

Patrick Richter can be reached at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-richter-986b19