If you are reading this from a beach or boat while clocked in for work, you might want to reconsider.

In the wake of the pandemic, we heard about “quiet quitting,” where employees simply checked out of the work they were doing. And if you think the current state of work can’t get any weirder, here comes “quiet vacations.”

A quiet vacation is when an employee takes time off from work without telling their manager or requesting paid time off. The goal is to maintain the appearance of working while taking time to recharge and balance work and life.

It is yet another affront to employers, many of whom are trying to be reasonable about hybrid work and employees’ desire for more flexibility. And human resources folks have had enough. Global consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) just announced they would be tracking employees’ locations to place more emphasis on in-person working.

Employee monitoring software (colloquially dubbed ‘bossware’) allows for companies to track everything from an employee’s location to their keystrokes to whether they are actually sitting in their desk chair.

If you think your company isn’t tracking what you are doing, there’s a very good chance that you are wrong.

“Close to 80% of companies with remote workers are using some form of ‘bossware,’” according to Rob Wilson, president of Employco USA and human resources expert. “But employee tracking is a new phenomenon that presents legal questions for both employers and employees.”

Wilson said that as companies crack down on quiet vacationing and errant remote workers, many are turning to ‘smart’ seat cushions, facial recognition software, and computer screen surveillance. “Some workers are complaining that they had more privacy and freedom when they were in the office,” said Wilson. “Others are questioning whether their employer has the legal right to track their very movements.”

Employee monitoring is legally protected in the United States, and only four states require companies to notify employees that they are being monitored. Whether you are driving a company car or using a company device, anything you do can be monitored. This includes surveillance monitoring via webcams. Employers can also track your online activity and keep employees’ data, provided they don’t sell it to a third-party.

Lawmakers are taking note and several are scrutinizing bossware. The Stop Spying Bosses Act of 2023 would require disclosures and prohibitions for employers engaging in surveillance of workers to help empower and protect workers. Specifically, this bill would: require any employer engaging in surveillance and collecting data on employees or applicants to disclose such information in a timely and public manner; prohibit employers from collecting sensitive data on workers (i.e., off-duty data collection, data collection that interferes with organizing, etc.); create rules around the usage of automated decision systems to empower workers in employment decisions; and establish the Privacy and Technology Division at the Department of Labor to enforce and regulate workplace surveillance as novel and emerging technologies.

For now, Wilson said, employee monitoring is largely unregulated, especially when it comes to newly developed technology that hasn’t been legislated. “If employers fear that employees will take ‘quiet vacations’ or otherwise slack off, these surveillance methods are only going to intensify. Employees might find that they are less scrutinized if they are in the office,” he said. “Until legislation catches up with the technology, employees have very little privacy rights.”

So even if you don’t come back from a week of “remote work” with a sunburn and new tattoo, your boss is probably going to know you weren’t actually working.