Big Brother is watching you!
The final of this year’s Big Brother is fast approaching. But how far can Big Brother go in the workplace? We all know that employers have information about their employees but what happens to this information and what are the employees’ rights?
The Employment Practices Code has recently been released by the Government and, although not strictly law, gives advice on employment practices when it comes to monitoring employees, holding information relating to workers’ health, recruitment and selection, and employment records.
So, to what extent can employers monitor their employees; what information can they keep about them and how can they use that information? Let me give you an example.
Shane applies for a few jobs as an office assistant. He fills in application forms for various posts around the country. How can the companies that he’s applied to use this information? The information must be used for selection purposes only. If the company is going to verify the information Shane provides then Shane must be told how this will be done and what information will be checked. Copies of the most amusing application form must not be copied and sent around the office – personal information must be kept secure and handled with respect.
Shane is successful in his job search and gets a job at Brother Ltd. What information can Brother Limited keep about Shane in its personnel files? The information must be relevant to the business and must not be out of date. Data protection rules apply except when Brother Ltd is legally obliged to disclose information, for example to the Inland Revenue.
Shane should be aware of what kind of information is being kept about him. It is good practice to let Shane see his personnel record from time to time to allow mistakes to be corrected and information to be kept up to date.
Sensitive information such as medical conditions should be kept separate from other less sensitive information. If Brother Ltd collects information about Shane used to monitor equal opportunities, for example about Shane’s ethnic origin, disabilities or sexuality, then this information must only be used for this purpose.
Whilst Shane is working at Brother Ltd a spate of thefts occur from the staffroom and Shane is disappointed to find out that his brand new i-pod has been stolen. Shane makes a complaint to the management and as a result Brother Ltd considers putting CCTV in the staff room. Can Brother Ltd do this?
Firstly Brother Ltd must consider whether this form of monitoring will have a bad effect on the employees (which normally it will as the employees have a right to privacy) and secondly, if this bad effect is justified. For example it may be justified in this case by either preventing further thefts or catching the culprit.
Brother Ltd must also make their employees aware of the nature, extent and reasons for any monitoring. The Managing Director, Mr Big, puts a sign on the notice board saying that as a result of the thefts a CCTV camera has been put in the staffroom. He hopes this will act as a deterrent and that he may find the thief.
Covert monitoring should only be used as a last resort, for example when there are grounds for suspecting criminal activity or serious malpractice and that telling people about the monitoring would make it difficult to catch the guilty parties. If you are considering covert monitoring, I suggest that you take legal advice first because getting it wrong can have serious cost implications in an Employment Tribunal.
In this age of information it is important that employers and employees know their rights when it comes to gathering and storing information. Fortunately for us we have more rights at work than the inhabitants of the Big Brother house currently have when it comes to monitoring our behaviour!
Published 27/06/2004.
