Documenting productivity scores and AI monitoring at work

When a productivity score, activity tracker or algorithmic rating starts to affect your work, record four things each time it matters: the exact metric and value you were shown, the date and period it covered, what your employer said about it, and which monitoring policies were given to you and when. Keep your own notes about what you were actually doing during the time measured.

Write down your questions about how a number is calculated as questions, not conclusions. A neutral record of what the system showed and what you did gives a lawyer, union rep or HR advisor something concrete to review, without you having to prove how the tool works.

Automated measurement shows up in very different jobs. A warehouse picker sees units per hour on a handheld scanner. A remote analyst's laptop runs software that logs keyboard and mouse activity and labels gaps as idle. A call centre agent is ranked on handle time and post-call surveys. A delivery driver's schedule, routes and ratings are set by an app rather than a person.

• Productivity or efficiency scores shown on a dashboard, sometimes as a percentage or a colour band.
• Activity tracking: keystrokes, mouse movement, active windows, periodic screenshots, idle-time flags.
• Algorithmic scheduling that assigns shifts, routes or task queues automatically.
• Ratings that combine customer feedback, speed and accuracy into one number.
• Automated flags or alerts sent to a supervisor when a metric falls below a threshold.

Dashboards change. Scores get recalculated overnight, rolling averages move, and last month's view may disappear. That is why a dated note made when you saw the number is valuable: it fixes what was in front of you at that moment.

• The name of the metric exactly as displayed, such as 'Active time %' or 'Units per hour'.
• The value, the target or threshold shown beside it, and any colour or label.
• The period it covered: a shift, a day, a week, a rolling 30 days.
• When you saw it and where: the app, the screen, a printout, a meeting slide.
• A screenshot of your own dashboard with the date visible, if your employer's policies allow it; otherwise write the values down.
• What you were doing during that period that the tool may not have registered, such as a meeting, training, a system outage or offline work.

Only capture your own metrics. Team leaderboards and other employees' scores involve their personal information, and a record built from them is harder to share with anyone.

A number on a screen matters most when someone connects it to a decision. Note each time a score comes up in a one-on-one, a coaching session, a written warning, a schedule change or a pay discussion. Write down who raised it by role, the words used as closely as you can, and whether the score was described as the reason for something or as one factor among several.

Also note what you said in response. If you mentioned that the tracker counted a two-hour training session as idle time, that is part of the record too, along with any answer you received.

Monitoring is often described in documents people click through at onboarding and never reopen: an acceptable use policy, a remote work agreement, an electronic monitoring notice, a login banner, a handbook section on performance standards. Record which ones you received, the version or date shown on them, and how you received them.

If a manager refers to a policy you have never seen, write that down and ask for a copy in writing. A short, neutral request works: 'Could you send me the current policy that describes the activity tracking on my laptop?' Keep the reply with the date.

You do not need to understand the algorithm to keep a useful record. What helps is a running list of specific, answerable questions, phrased without assuming bad faith.

• What activity counts as active, and how long without input before time is marked idle?
• Are calls, video meetings, reading, training or work on paper captured at all?
• Is the score compared with a fixed target or ranked against coworkers?
• Does a person review the score before it is used in a decision about scheduling, discipline or pay?
• Can an error be corrected, and who do you ask?
• How long is the monitoring data kept, and can you see what is held about you?

Entry example: 'Event: April 14, 2026, 10:30 a.m., one-on-one by video. Written: April 14, 2026, 12:05 p.m. My team lead showed a dashboard with my Active time at 61% for April 6 to 10, against a target of 75% shown in amber. The team lead said the number would be reviewed again in two weeks. I said that on April 8 I attended a compliance training from 1 to 4 p.m. with my camera on and no keyboard use. The team lead said they would check whether training is excluded. Linked records: M-03 (screenshot of my dashboard, April 14), P-01 (remote work policy, version dated January 2026). Open question: is scheduled training excluded from Active time?'

A simple weekly log alongside the entries makes patterns visible: 'Week of April 6 | Active time 61% | Target 75% | Notes: training April 8, three hours; VPN outage April 9, about 40 minutes.' Over a few months, those notes show whether low weeks line up with work the tool does not see.

In Canada, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner's guidance on privacy in the workplace describes transparency as fundamental, says employees should be made aware of the purpose, nature, extent and reasons for monitoring, and points employers toward the least privacy-invasive measure in the circumstances. In 2023, federal, provincial and territorial privacy regulators adopted a joint resolution asking employers to tell employees which monitoring and AI tools are in use and why, and calling for a human in the loop when AI is used for significant decisions about employees.

Which privacy law covers your workplace depends on your province or territory and whether your employer is federally regulated. In the United States, monitoring rules come from a mix of federal and state law and differ by state. If a tracker decides which minutes count as work, the US Department of Labor's general fact sheet on hours worked may be useful background to bring to a qualified reviewer. None of this tells you whether a particular tool is permitted; that question belongs with a lawyer or your union.

1. List the tools you know measure your work and where each one shows you results.
2. Collect the policies and notices you received about them, with dates, and note any you were told about but never given.
3. Start a weekly log of your own scores, targets and anything unusual that week.
4. Write a dated entry each time a metric is raised in a meeting, a message or a written document.
5. Keep your calculation questions on a separate list and add the answer and date when you get one.
6. Before any review, read the file in date order and mark where scores and decisions line up.

Can I screenshot my productivity dashboard? Your own scores are about you, but some employers restrict screenshots of internal systems. If you are unsure, write the values, date and screen name in your notes instead, and ask a qualified reviewer about copies.

Should I install my own tracking software to compare? Avoid putting anything on employer devices. A handwritten or personal-phone log of your tasks and meetings is usually enough to show what the tool may have missed.

What if nobody will explain the score? Record each time you asked, who you asked by role, and the answer or lack of one. An unanswered question is a useful entry on its own.

Can I ask to see the data collected about me? Privacy laws in some provinces and sectors give people a way to request their personal information, and union agreements sometimes address monitoring data. Ask HR in writing and note the reply.

SteadyFile gives this kind of file a structure. In a private work file, started in your browser at app.steadyfile.com with no account needed, each meeting where a score came up becomes a dated entry with the people present by role and links to the dashboard screenshot or policy in the records index. Your calculation questions sit on the gaps and questions list until they are answered. With an account, SteadyFile records when each entry was created and keeps edits visible, which matters when scores themselves keep changing. Your employer has no access, and the exported chronological PDF lets a lawyer or union rep see scores, conversations and decisions side by side.