1. Surveillance and monitoring in practice 


The Labour Research Department (LRD) carried out a survey of workplace trade union contacts in 2015, asking them for examples of surveillance and monitoring techniques in their workplaces, and any related issues and concerns. They were also asked to forward any agreements or procedures in place dealing with these issues at their workplace. The survey responses have been used to inform the overview provided in this booklet of the different forms of monitoring and surveillance in place and the ways in which unions have responded to these developments. 


Among the most notable forms of surveillance and monitoring of workers that have been identified by reps are the following: 


• CCTV, often introduced for safety or security reasons, including in public buildings, warehouses, factories and other industrial premises, public transport, schools and care homes, but also used to monitor staff activity; 


• vehicle tracking — for example, delivery firms have long used GPS tracking systems to keep track of their drivers’ whereabouts and in order to help predict delivery times. This is now common for all mobile workers using company vehicles; 


• hand-held digital devices (such as personal organisers or tablets) or wearable computers which provide detailed instructions to staff and can also be used to track workers’ movements. For example, the latter are used to transmit “picking instructions” in Amazon warehouses, and to track and time workers movements;


• recording of calls in call centres. Calls are routinely monitored for “quality and training purposes” but this often strays into monitoring calls for performance management and disciplinary reasons;


• use of mystery shoppers/mystery customers (for example, in the retail and banking sector or mystery passengers in the transport sector);


• audio/video recording of lectures/classes (for teachers/lecturers);


• monitoring of software usage, including website logs, photocopier use, email use, phone logs; and


• digital software, including fingerprinting and iris recognition, as well as micro-chipped security passes to monitor attendance and whereabouts at workplace premises. 


Some of these techniques have been introduced specifically to monitor employee activity or performance, whereas others have been put in place for reasons related to the employer’s line of business, but which can also be used to monitor employees. 


Some of the LRD survey responses also indicate the ways in which employers are taking a more all-inclusive approach to surveillance. Whereas previously, emerging technology was used for particular monitoring purposes in specific workplace areas, surveillance is now becoming more joined up, with employers drawing on data from different types of surveillance to put together a complete picture of employee movements. 


For example, images of employees from CCTV, data from vehicle tracking devices where employees use company vehicles, swipe cards or key fobs which store data on movements into/out of and around workplace premises, and software monitoring computer log-ins, key strokes, and internet browsing, can be drawn together to establish a comprehensive picture of what a worker is doing and where they are at any point in time. A number of the companies that produce and distribute this monitoring technology are now also marketing integrated packages which bring these different surveillance techniques together for employers.