Employee Monitoring Glossary
Idle Time
The period during a work session when no keyboard or mouse input is detected. Not automatically wasted time — phone calls, meetings, and thinking all appear as idle.
Definition
Idle time is the period during a work session when no keyboard or mouse input is detected, indicating the employee's device is not in active computer use. It is measured in seconds and expressed as a percentage of total session time. Idle time is the inverse of active time — the two sum to 100% of the measured session duration.
Legitimate vs Suspicious Idle Time
Legitimate idle time (normal in any workday):
- Phone calls and video meetings (device idle; employee actively working)
- Thinking, planning, reading physical documents
- Scheduled breaks (coffee, lunch, restroom)
- In-person conversations and whiteboarding
Suspicious idle time (worth investigating):
- Idle periods at the same time every day with no meeting explanation
- 80%+ idle ratio sustained over multiple weeks
- Idle for hours immediately after clocking in (device left logged-in, employee absent)
How TheDeskMonitor Handles Idle Time
DeskAgent uses a configurable idle threshold (default: 3 minutes of no input = idle period begins). The Activity Levels dashboard shows active vs idle time per employee per day, with trend charts over 7, 14, and 30 days. Idle time alerts can be configured to notify managers when an employee exceeds a threshold idle percentage.