8. Negotiating a workplace policy 


Unions have had some success in preventing more intrusive forms of surveillance. In many sectors however, monitoring of workplace activity using some form of technological device is a standard practice, and the challenge for unions is to ensure that the technology employed and data obtained are used in an appropriate fashion.


Where employers seek to introduce workplace monitoring technology it is essential that workers and their unions are consulted, and policies explaining and regulating the use of the technology are agreed. Such policies need to set clear parameters as to where and when it is acceptable for workers to be monitored, how this is done, what the information gathered is used for, how and for how long the information is stored and who has access to it. 


As a number of examples set out in the booklet show, good workplace policies negotiated by trade unions also stipulate that information gleaned from such monitoring is not used for performance management or disciplinary purposes. Policies need to incorporate the principle set out in the ICO Employment Practices Code that information collected through monitoring should not be used for purposes other than those originally set out. So if monitoring has been introduced for health and safety or security purposes, or to track production flow or deliveries, then the information gathered should not normally be used for other reasons such as disciplinary matters.


General union Unite recommends that reps negotiate clear collective agreements to protect staff from unjustified surveillance and monitoring. Clear rules will ensure everybody knows where they stand and should commit employers to basic principles on privacy protection, including the need to set out the precise limits of any monitoring. 


Unite also recommends that reps negotiate the right to be consulted whenever covert monitoring is suggested or implemented, and that covert monitoring should be limited to cases of genuine, specific need to protect the safety, security and integrity of the organisation. Reps could consider negotiating the right to audit the use of covert surveillance after the event, to make sure the practice is kept under critical review, although there may be an understandable reluctance to do this if there is a danger of appearing to condone the surveillance activity. In any event, any covert surveillance must be strictly time-limited and all attempts to extend monitoring into employees’ private lives should be fiercely resisted.


A clearly explained policy developed following consultation and negotiation with the workplace union will also help to guarantee the climate of mutual trust between employers and employees necessary for confidence in employment practices, harmonious workplace relations and organisational effectiveness. 


Where employers introduce monitoring systems without consultation, and use information gathered from workplace surveillance to discipline and performance manage workers — particularly if done so in an arbitrary fashion — this can lead to a breakdown of trust and goodwill. As some of the examples set out in this booklet show, good workplace organisation by trade unions has been the key to getting employer agreement on acceptable policies on workforce monitoring.