macOS asks for two permissions — Screen Recording and Accessibility — because those are exactly what let WorkMonitor take a screenshot and measure your activity; without them, the agent still runs, it just has nothing real to record.
What this means for you
Screen Recording is what lets WorkMonitor take a screenshot and read the title of the window you have open. Without it, no screenshot is taken and the window title is left blank — the app you’re using is still identified either way.
Accessibility is what lets WorkMonitor count keystrokes and clicks, which is what your activity level and idle detection are built from. Without it, that signal simply isn’t produced.
Identifying your idle time and which app is in the foreground needs neither permission — those keep working even before you grant anything.
This is a deliberate, honest design: a missing permission means a missing signal, never a crash and never a silent guess.
Some things are never touched, permission or not: “Never: webcam · microphone · file & message content.”
If you skipped a permission during setup, missing screenshots or a missing activity level are the most common reason an installed agent looks like it’s “recording nothing” — granting the permission fixes it immediately (Screen Recording needs a relaunch of the app to take effect).
Related
Install on a Mac
The menu-bar icon and pausing
Will WorkMonitor slow my computer down?