I suppose it comes down to "old school" versus "new school" work practices. By that I mean that most factory work environments involve clocking on and off for shifts, and doing everything in a manner that would have been recognised by a Victorian factory owner, whereas modern work practices are often more flexible. I work from home frequently, and perform, arguably as well as or better in this environment as I do in an office. I am therefore used to motivating myself and putting in the hours without supervision.
A lot of us when placed on a factory floor environment change our attitude, not least because a lot of what we are expected to do is often boring or monotonous. Furthermore things like rest breaks, lunches and so forth are often considered "part of the machine". We are expected to fit in with the factory time schedule, not the other way round, and this causes further resentment. You get the "I'm not being paid enough to care" attitude.
This in turn leads to an arms race of management looking for "
skivers" and workers looking for ways to beat the system.
I heard of one case in a well known large Scottish bakery, (many years ago now), where workers were producing their own booze (well you have all the ingredients, lots of sugar, yeast, warm temperatures, water, utensils and so forth, so what else are you going to do while you are waiting for the bread to rise/bake).
They had also built a secret "snooze" room in a hidden ceiling space behind the ovens. A hazardous area where management seldom if ever visited, and where the "grafters" i.e. workers could catch up on sleep, play cards (and presumably quaff a little hooch) during the night shift when there was little management about. This is taking it to extremes I know, but it nicely illustrates the "them and us" attitude which is a major factor in this kind of problem.
I am not suggesting for a moment that anybody is either "skiving" or "spying" in your particular environment (just in case the high powered
Philidelphia Lawyers are listening), but trying to illustrate the nature of the beast we are dealing with.
You might try a different approach, depending on what you are trying to take a time lapse of. If things happen when nobody is there. i.e. if there are down times each day, with no workers about, but there is evidence of things having changed, beteen down times, you could agree to only take pictures at those times..... although this might remove the very element of movement you are trying to capture. Alternatively limit your shooting to areas and distances where machines are moving, lights flashing etc, but no individuals are identifiable.
