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Ask Employment Law |
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Remember: There is no substitute for legal advice on the actual
situation you find yourself in. The information posted on this site is for
general information only, is based on |
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Question: |
Can an employer use
covert surveillance to gather evidence to support a disciplinary action? |
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Answer: |
This is a complicated issue. However in at least one case;
McGowan v Scottish Water [2005] in the EAT, Scottish Water used private investigators
to spy on Mr McGowan at home. They believed that he was falsifying his
timesheets, so they videoed his home to monitor his movements. As a result of this surveillance Scottish Water dismissed
him and in his subsequent unfair dismissal claim Mr McGowan claimed that this covert activity
breached Article 8 (right to respect for private life) of the Human Rights
Act. One might think that covert surveillance of an employee at
his home was particularly intrusive, however Mr McGowan’s arguments were
rejected. Although there was a strong presumption that Mr McGowan’s right to
private life was being breached, the key issue is how ‘proportionate’ that
intrusion was. In this instance the surveillance was crucial to establishing
whether a potentially serious fraud was being committed. It was proportionate
in the circumstances. Though not giving the red light to peak over the garden
fence every time an employee throws a sickie, surveillance may well be
proportionate when investigating serious misconduct. Putting CCTV cameras in the toilets of the
workplace is unlikely to be proportionate. See also our page on disciplinary proceedings Last
reviewed: July 2010 |
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Employment
Solicitor Reculver Solicitors Tel
0207 324 6271 Regulated
by the Solicitors Regulation Authority ©
Reculver Solicitors. 2005- |
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