The dos and don’ts of employee monitoring

Since the increase in remote and hybrid working caused by the pandemic, there has been more interest in software specialising in employee monitoring.

Monitoring your employees whilst they work can not only ensure that they are working but it also can give you an insight into how to increase productivity.

However, monitoring should always be done transparently and correctly. If you are not careful, you could break your employee’s trust and potentially breach The Data Protection Act, 2018.

To avoid this, we recommend that you discuss your policies with an Employment Law expert.

The dos

If you are monitoring your employees, you must ensure that you have the correct policies in place. In line with the Data Protection Act, you must:

By following the procedures set out in the Data Protection Act, you can ensure that your business is legally compliant.

To ensure that these are being followed, we recommend that you:

The don’ts

Now that you know what you should do, it is important to know what to avoid. A lot can go wrong if employee monitoring is not implemented correctly.

The key areas to avoid are:

Not following these steps can have serious consequences for you and your business.

If you are not compliant with the Data Protection Act, you could be prosecuted, and your staff may take you to the Employment Tribunal.

Even in less serious cases, employees may lose trust in you as an employer and potentially seek alternative employment.

Talking to an expert

If you are considering monitoring your employees, it is best to talk to an expert.

A solicitor can help you decide if you have a legitimate reason for employee monitoring. If you do not, they may be able to help you plan alternatives, such as performance reviews and staff training. These are less intrusive and often have similar results.

If you decide that you still want to go ahead with monitoring your employees, then a solicitor can help you create policies and advise you on the best practices.

Get in touch today to find out how we can help you stay compliant.

LinkedIn
Share
FbMessenger
URL has been copied successfully!

Contact us

Complete the below form and a member of our team will get back to you

If you would like to see full details of our data practices please visit our Privacy Policy and if you have any questions please email dataprotection@hethertons.co.uk.