Staff monitoring must be transparent
Published: 11 Jun 2003 10:49 BST
Information Commissioner Richard Thomas today started his move to make companies' compliance with the Data Protection Act easier and simpler.
Monitoring at Work, launched today to tell companies how to deal with the information they accumulate while monitoring their employees, is substantially shorter and much clearer than the preceding version of the code.
It is written in plain English. An automatic ten points to Mr Thomas.
Thomas said: "We've moved away from the intense detail of the previous draft. We've made it more pragmatic. Now, instead of saying that companies must carry out an impact study before monitoring, we say that it's a good idea -- that companies should consider it."
Thomas said that the new version of the code, which his office is obliged to produce, was in response to a wave of requests from employers asking for clarification.
"We aimed to strike the right balance between the needs of employers and the rights of employees. If an employer has to check how staff are using their computers at work, the company should make sure staff know how and why the checks will be carried out.
"If any monitoring is to take place it must be open and transparent and with the knowledge of the employee. In reality, there are few circumstances in which covert monitoring is justified."
Thomas is comfortable with the fact that other regulatory bodies, such as the Financial Services Authority, may require employers to monitor employees' telephone conversations, emails, contacts and more.
But he emphasises the key points are that employees be made aware of the monitoring and the rules and procedures under which it is conducted, and that it should not intrude on an employee's personal life or on their rights to privacy.
Thomas believes, in line with the code, that covert surveillance -- defined as concealed and unannounced -- is only justified by threats of serious crime, and not often then. He declined to give examples.
At the end of all this monitoring, the data collected must be kept securely and disposed of as soon as it is no longer needed.
The new code, which is the third part of the Employment Practice Data Protection Code, and the short summary for SMEs is available today on this page.
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