Employee Monitoring
8 July 2003
Most responsible employers need to supervise or monitor their employees at work. In June the data protection office issued an important new code of practice for employers on Employee Monitoring. The Code provides guidance on topics such as CCTV cameras at work and email and internet use monitoring.
Judith Ellery, a partner and head of our Employment Department at Metcalfes says:-
"The Code has been issued under the Data Protection Act 1998 and provides valuable guidance for employers. It says that above all else employees must, in the vast majority of cases, be told if they are being monitored. Employees can be notified in various ways, but bigger companies often have separate email and internet use policies for staff. We can draft such policies where required for clients.
"The Code is a substantial document but does come with a short guide for small and medium sized companies. It sets out guidance to ensure employers do not engage in surveillance of staff which is unnecessary or overly intrusive and seeks to strike a fair balance."
For further advice contact Judith Ellery or Paul Seath on 0117 929 0451
This press release summarises the law on issues which we believe may be of interest to your business. It is not a comprehensive review of the subjects and accordingly is published without responsibility for loss occasioned to any person(s) acting or refraining from action as a result of information published