LRD guides and handbook March 2020

Monitoring and surveillance at work - a practical guide for trade union reps

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Introduction

Introduction [pages 5-6] (1,213 words)

There have never been so many different ways for management to watch over and monitor the workforce. Moving on from the days of bag checks and ...
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Chapter 1

1. Monitoring and surveillance in practice [ch 1: pages 8-9] (721 words)

The Labour Research Department (LRD) carried out a survey of workplace trade union contacts in 2020, asking them for examples of surveillance and ...
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Impact of monitoring and surveillance in the workplace [ch 1: pages 9-10] (488 words)

Who is most affected? [ch 1: page 11] (173 words)

Justification for monitoring [ch 1: pages 11-12] (578 words)

New techniques [ch 1: pages 12-13] (558 words)

The law [ch 1: page 14] (200 words)

The ICO Code of Practice [ch 1: page 14] (207 words)

Negotiating workplace policies [ch 1: page 15] (335 words)

Surveillance of trade unionists and blacklisting [ch 1: pages 15-16] (138 words)

Chapter 2

2. CCTV cameras and audio recording of workers [ch 2: pages 17-18] (422 words)

The use by employers of CCTV or video cameras has become common in a range of different workplaces, and is one of the most intrusive forms of ...
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CCTV in disciplinary proceedings [ch 2: pages 18-19] (488 words)

Trade union responses and agreements on CCTV [ch 2: pages 19-20] (589 words)

Hidden cameras [ch 2: pages 20-21] (678 words)

CCTV and surveillance in schools [ch 2: pages 22-23] (522 words)

Recording of teaching in schools
 [ch 2: page 23] (257 words)

Recording lectures in the higher education sector [ch 2: pages 23-24] (284 words)

Monitoring extremism
 in education [ch 2: page 24] (208 words)

Filming or recording by third parties [ch 2: pages 25-26] (596 words)

Wearable cameras [ch 2: page 26] (297 words)

Chapter 3

3. Vehicle tracking [ch 3: pages 27-28] (510 words)

The use of cameras in vehicles has now become commonplace. In some cases this involves outward or forward-facing cameras, to record any road or ...
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Vehicle camera technology [ch 3: pages 28-29] (484 words)

Vehicle telematics [ch 3: pages 29-30] (562 words)

Vehicle tracking in practice [ch 3: pages 30-32] (701 words)

Chapter 4

4. Tracking and surveillance of individuals [ch 4: page 33] (322 words)

There are now many ways to monitor and track individual workers. Its use is often justified as a way of providing safeguarding, but in practice the ...
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Radio-frequency identification and electronic tagging [ch 4: pages 33-34] (436 words)

Wearable computers [ch 4: pages 34-35] (551 words)

Monitoring the “self-employed” [ch 4: page 36] (305 words)

Personal digital assistants [ch 4: pages 36-37] (309 words)

Clocking in and entry systems [ch 4: pages 37-38] (445 words)

Biometrics — fingerprint, hand and face recognition software [ch 4: page 38] (207 words)

Algorithmic monitoring
 [ch 4: pages 38-39] (266 words)

Health monitoring
 [ch 4: page 39] (215 words)

Use of covert surveillance in disciplinary investigations [ch 4: page 40] (300 words)

Chapter 5

5. Monitoring in call centres and mystery shoppers [ch 5: pages 41-42] (827 words)

Recording and monitoring of telephone calls made and received is now routine in a range of sectors using call centres, including the finance, retail, ...
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Mystery shoppers [ch 5: pages 42-44] (711 words)

Chapter 6

6. Monitoring electronic communications [ch 6: pages 45-46] (562 words)

Most large to medium employers now use filter software, often with activity monitoring features that log all user actions, applications and web pages ...
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Email [ch 6: pages 46-47] (473 words)

Telephone usage [ch 6: page 47] (119 words)

Social media [ch 6: pages 47-48] (490 words)

Recruitment process [ch 6: pages 48-49] (171 words)

Data security in the workplace [ch 6: page 49] (181 words)

Chapter 7

7. What the law says about monitoring and surveillance at work [ch 7: page 50] (336 words)

A range of laws and codes of practice cover worker privacy in the UK. Here is a list of the main sources:
 ...
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Common law – the employment contract [ch 7: page 51] (408 words)

Chapter 8

8. Article 8 – The human right to privacy at work [ch 8: page 52] (314 words)

Privacy at work is a human right. Everyone has the human right to live privately and this extends to the workplace.
 ...
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Private life [ch 8: pages 52-59] (2,968 words)

Chapter 9

9. Data protection law and the ICO codes [ch 9: page 60] (293 words)

UK data protection law is governed by the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 18) and also (for the time being) by European Union law – the EU General ...
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The UK’s data protection regime [ch 9: pages 60-63] (1,148 words)

Right of access [ch 9: pages 63-64] (363 words)

The ICO Employment Practices Code [ch 9: pages 64-65] (441 words)

Privacy impact assessments [ch 9: pages 65-66] (246 words)

Monitoring and surveillance policies [ch 9: page 66] (160 words)

Phone and voice mail monitoring [ch 9: pages 66-67] (371 words)

Laws on monitoring calls and emails at work
 [ch 9: pages 67-68] (320 words)

Internet and email monitoring [ch 9: pages 68-69] (186 words)

Video and audio monitoring [ch 9: page 69] (162 words)

In-vehicle monitoring [ch 9: page 69] (181 words)

What the ICO Code says about covert surveillance at work [ch 9: page 70] (317 words)

Health monitoring [ch 9: page 70] (65 words)

Surveillance by public bodies
 [ch 9: page 71] (349 words)

The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA 16)
 [ch 9: page 72] (159 words)

The ICO Code on CCTV at work – In the picture [ch 9: pages 72-73] (617 words)

Audio recording [ch 9: page 74] (260 words)

The ILO Code of Practice for the protection of workers’ personal data
 [ch 9: pages 74-75] (303 words)

Chapter 10

10. Surveillance evidence in disciplinaries and tribunal hearings [ch 10: pages 76-78] (1,052 words)

Sometimes, audio or CCTV evidence supports a member’s version of events, by providing a clear record of exactly what happened and helping them ...
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Privacy claims linked to social media use [ch 10: page 78] (283 words)

Making secret recordings and the law [ch 10: pages 79-80] (925 words)

Chapter 11

11. Surveillance of union members – blacklisting [ch 11: pages 81-84] (1,533 words)

For trade union members, the worst and most notorious example of work-related surveillance is undoubtedly the blacklisting scandal in the ...
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Chapter 12

12. Negotiating a workplace policy [ch 12: pages 85-86] (532 words)

Unions have had some success in preventing more intrusive forms of surveillance. In many sectors however, monitoring of workplace activity using some ...
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Key elements of a policy [ch 12: pages 86-87] (361 words)

CCTV and audio and video recordings
 [ch 12: page 87] (48 words)

Telephones and electronic communications
 [ch 12: page 87] (140 words)

Vehicle tracking
 [ch 12: page 87] (41 words)

Covert monitoring
 [ch 12: page 88] (84 words)

Recruitment
 [ch 12: page 88] (46 words)

Further information

Further information [Page 89] (279 words)

Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, Tel: 0303 123 1113, Fax: 01625 524 510, or email: ...
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