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Question:	Can Employers use covert cameras to monitor employees?
Answer:	The question will be principally determined by reference to the Data Protection Act. The Information Commissioner has issued a code of practice which goes into the question at some length but states: ‘A number of the requirements of the Data Protection Act will come into play whenever an employer wishes to monitor workers. The Act does not prevent an employer from monitoring workers, but such monitoring must be done in a way which is consistent with the Act. Employers – especially in the public sector – must also bear in mind Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights which creates a right to respect for private and family life and for correspondence.’ ‘There are limitations as to how far consent can be relied on in the employment context to justify the processing of personal information. To be valid, for the purposes of the Data Protection Act, consent must be “freely given”, which may not be the case in the employment environment. Once given, consent can be withdrawn. In any case, employers who can justify monitoring on the basis of an impact assessment will not generally need the consent of individual workers.’ Employers should consider very carefully why they consider that monitoring is necessary and should almost always obtain the consent of the employee before doing so. If an employee feels that his or her privacy is being intruded upon in this manner, he or she may wish to raise a formal written grievance with the employer or take up the matter with the Information Commissioner ( www.ico.gov.uk ). See also our page on data subject access requests. Last reviewed: July 2010
James Carmody Employment Solicitor Reculver Solicitors 12-16 Clerkenwell Road London EC1M 5PQ www.reculversolicitors.co.uk info@reculversolicitors.co.uk Tel 0207 324 6271 Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority © Reculver Solicitors. 2005-