LRD guides and handbook March 2020

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

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 ...
Open access

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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