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Can employers snoop on their staff?
January 11, 2023
By Owen John
In light of recent guidance published by the Information Commissioner’s Office, our employment team have come up with all you need to know about employee monitoring.
Can I monitor my employees?
Yes, as long as there’s a lawful basis for the monitoring. The main thing for employers to remember here is that they need to be balanced in their approach – i.e. they can’t interfere too much. The goal of keeping an eye on employees through monitoring needs to be balanced with the level of intrusion it will cause to employees. This assessment becomes a data protection / GDPR issue, so let us know if you need any help or advice in taking any decisions about monitoring.
Must I tell the employees about the monitoring?
Yes, that is crucial. Most employers do this by including wording in an internal data protection policy or data privacy notice and making those documents easily accessible to staff – e.g. in a staff handbook. Our employment team have significant experience of drafting these documents and ensuring that employers are compliant in the way that they inform staff about monitoring.
Can I monitor employees who are working from home?
Again, yes, but as long as the monitoring is balanced against the individual’s privacy (i.e. is not excessive) and the employees are informed about the monitoring (e.g. by way of a data protection policy or privacy notice).
What form can employee monitoring take?
Our top tips in summary:
If you need any advice with navigating any of the issues raised above, please contact Owen John on ojohn@darwingray.com / 02920 829 118 for a free initial chat to see how we can help you.
To speak to one of our experts today, please contact us on 02920 829 100 or by using our Contact Us form for a free initial chat to see how we can help.
