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Monitored on camera in work

  • 16-05-2008 6:59pm
    #1
    jos28
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,219 ✭✭✭


    Does anyone know what the rules and regulations are regarding the installation of cameras in your workplace. I have looked at Dept of Employment website but I can't find anything. Do employees have to be informed if they are being CONSTANTLY monitored.


Comments

  • #2
    cronos
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,719 ✭✭✭cronos


    jos28 wrote: »
    Does anyone know what the rules and regulations are regarding the installation of cameras in your workplace. I have looked at Dept of Employment website but I can't find anything. Do employees have to be informed if they are being CONSTANTLY monitored.

    i dont know the rules but are the cameras there to monitor the building. Spot intruders etc... Are you sure they are there to monitor you specifically.

    I think changing rooms and bathrooms are off limits but other than that I think they can do what they want as its there building.


  • #3
    jos28
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,219 ✭✭✭jos28


    It's a retail unit. The cameras are there to monitor the staff and potential thieves. Hence the phone calls from the boss while he is at home asking why so and so has been missing for the past 5 minutes etc etc.


  • #4
    AARRRGH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,382 ✭✭✭✭AARRRGH


    Most shops have cameras on the till, etc.

    I can understand your discomfort.

    Could you get a new job?


  • #5
    Nothingcompares
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,923 ✭✭✭Nothingcompares


    I was under the impression, in fact, I think I read it on boards.ie somewhere that employers can only use cameras for two reasons - security and staff monitoring. They have to inform you what the cameras are for, if they're security cameras they shouldn't be used to monitor staff activity (that isn't of a security nature). Having said that it sounds silly that you can't use them for both.


  • #6
    board om
    Closed Accounts Posts: 643 ✭✭✭board om


    as far as i know it is allowed. sure for retail all they have to say is they are watching for thieves, and who is to say they arent.

    a lad i know was working in a shop in town a few years ago. the shop used to have cameras and the boss used to sit at home watching the employees working away. one day my mate was in the shop on his own and the shop got held up. the bosses wife was watching the cameras at home and the stupid b1tch didnt even ring the garda. she watched the whole robbery taking place and then when the robber had legged it she rang my mate and told him to call the gardai himself. what a complete cnut. we were convinced it was an insurance job becuase who in their right mind would watch their own business getting robbed and not call the gardai? pretty funny though thinking back.


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  • #7
    jos28
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,219 ✭✭✭jos28


    board om wrote: »
    as far as i know it is allowed. sure for retail all they have to say is they are watching for thieves, and who is to say they arent.

    a lad i know was working in a shop in town a few years ago. the shop used to have cameras and the boss used to sit at home watching the employees working away. one day my mate was in the shop on his own and the shop got held up. the bosses wife was watching the cameras at home and the stupid b1tch didnt even ring the garda. she watched the whole robbery taking place and then when the robber had legged it she rang my mate and told him to call the gardai himself. what a complete cnut. we were convinced it was an insurance job becuase who in their right mind would watch their own business getting robbed and not call the gardai? pretty funny though thinking back.

    Sounds just like my bosses wife ! Glorious sunny weather last weekend and she spends the entire weekend watching the shops on a laptop at home. Sad or what ?


  • #8
    board om
    Closed Accounts Posts: 643 ✭✭✭board om


    jos28 wrote: »
    Sounds just like my bosses wife ! Glorious sunny weather last weekend and she spends the entire weekend watching the shops on a laptop at home. Sad or what ?


    it must be a power thing. watching the minions at work. its like her own private puppet show, where she gets to hire and fire the cast.


  • #9
    Firetrap
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,442 ✭✭✭Firetrap


    Oh yes, the old bums on seats mentality is alive and kicking. As far as I know, as long as staff are told that the cameras are there, there's nothing they can do about it.


  • #10
    board om
    Closed Accounts Posts: 643 ✭✭✭board om


    i was just thinking, what would happen if they had sound as well? i mean i know they can sit there watching you work away, but what would happen if they could hear you chatting away as well. that would be a nightmare. think about some of the sh1te you might say to a customer, or worse still if you were slagging the boss off :eek:

    paranoia or what. time to learn sign language.


  • #11
    Hanley
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 21,981 ✭✭✭✭Hanley


    board om wrote: »
    paranoia or what. time to learn sign language.

    Lucky they don't have camera's to watch that!! Oh no.... wait... :D


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  • #12
    DonkeyStyle \o/
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,145 ✭✭✭DonkeyStyle \o/


    jos28 wrote: »
    Hence the phone calls from the boss while he is at home asking why so and so has been missing for the past 5 minutes etc etc.
    Yuck, I wonder if you could just loop the same footage over and over (like in the movie 'Speed').


  • #13
    Saber
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2 ✭Saber


    Hi everyone

    I have a question about monitoring at work. We have a network of security cameras where I work and the other day a manager used the cameras to watch me when i was heading upstairs to go to the bathroom, he is then claiming i was lying about where i was.

    I had been lead to believe that management were not supposed to monitor staff on the cameras, if there was a suspicion of the staff member doing something like stealing that security could monitor and then pass the information to the management if it turned out they were stealing.

    In this instance, there was no security issue and the manager was watching me (and only me) despite there being a security member in the store watching the cameras from the main security office.

    Does anyone know if this is allowed ?

    Thanks in advance


  • #14
    Shelflife
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,077 ✭✭✭Shelflife


    You can use the footage for anything you want, if you are spending hours in the bathroom for no good reason or skiving off in a store room it can be used against you.

    it of course can also be used to your advantage to prove that your not up to no good.


  • #15
    Firefox10
    Closed Accounts Posts: 299 ✭✭Firefox10


    jos28 wrote: »
    Hence the phone calls from the boss while he is at home asking why so and so has been missing for the past 5 minutes etc etc.

    I would not work in a place like that for 5 seconds!!:eek: How do you put up with the complete mistrust between staff and managment like that? Sounds like a terrible way to run a business imo.


  • #16
    hobochris
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,164 ✭✭✭hobochris


    Shelflife wrote: »
    You can use the footage for anything you want, if you are spending hours in the bathroom for no good reason or shiving off in a sore room it can be used against you.

    it of course can also be used to your advantage to prove that your not up to no good.

    If recorded then the Data protection act comes into play and the employee can request that 'any data such as a video clip of them' is destroyed,failure to do this can result in a nice big fine form the data commissioner if reported.


  • #17
    antoinolachtnai
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,815 ✭✭✭antoinolachtnai


    Where in the Data Protection Acts is this right enumerated?


  • #18
    kravmaga
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,982 ✭✭✭kravmaga


    jos28 wrote: »
    Does anyone know what the rules and regulations are regarding the installation of cameras in your workplace. I have looked at Dept of Employment website but I can't find anything. Do employees have to be informed if they are being CONSTANTLY monitored.


    Mentions here that only Authorised Personnel may view the CCTV for security purposes.
    As a previous poster said cameras are not allowed in toilets or locker/changing rooms for obvious reasons

    http://www.dataprotection.ie/docs/6.1_What_issues_surround_the_use_of_CCTV?/642.htm


  • #19
    Saber
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2 ✭Saber


    blueeyedboy wrote: »
    As a previous poster said cameras are not allowed in toilets or locker/changing rooms for obvious reasons

    What about monitoring the door to the toilet ?


  • #20
    Shelflife
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,077 ✭✭✭Shelflife


    Saber wrote: »
    What about monitoring the door to the toilet ?

    if they want they can monitor the entrance/exit.
    hobochris wrote: »
    If recorded then the Data protection act comes into play and the employee can request that 'any data such as a video clip of them' is destroyed,failure to do this can result in a nice big fine form the data commissioner if reported.

    You have to make sure that all information is in a secure location and does not fall into the public domain, you have to ensure that the information you have is factually correct.

    you can keep this information as long as you want it, you do not have to destroy clips just because an employee wants you to.


  • #21
    leeroybrown
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,563 ✭✭✭leeroybrown


    Shelflife wrote: »
    you can keep this information as long as you want it
    That's not quite true. Retention of general employee surveillance indefinitely would most likely be deemed to be excessive unless it related to a specific event that was being investigated. In fact, retaining it for anything more than four or five weeks would probably be deemed excessive.


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  • #22
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,286 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    board om wrote: »
    i was just thinking, what would happen if they had sound as well? i mean i know they can sit there watching you work away, but what would happen if they could hear you chatting away as well. that would be a nightmare. think about some of the sh1te you might say to a customer, or worse still if you were slagging the boss off :eek:

    Some do, and it's surprisingly good. I know of one pub where the manager regularly watches and zooms in on conversations (staff AND customers).

    These days, you should assume you are on camera pretty much any time you are in a public place.

    The cams in pubs are as much to protect the staff as monitor them: if they customer claims that XYZ happens, the camera gives an objective view (the customer was quietly told it was time for a break, rather than being embarassed in front of all his mates).


  • #23
    Shelflife
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,077 ✭✭✭Shelflife


    leeroybrown wrote: »
    That's not quite true. Retention of general employee surveillance indefinitely would most likely be deemed to be excessive unless it related to a specific event that was being investigated. In fact, retaining it for anything more than four or five weeks would probably be deemed excessive.

    want/need/require, most companies wouldnt want to keep it at all unless there was a specific reason to do so.


  • #24
    fifibibi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34 ✭fifibibi


    I have worked in Retail, management end, and to be honest half of the time the camera monitoring was watching out for theft by customers, and the other half was watching staff. Employees take advantage if they can. Im not saying everyone but it would be easy for a staff member to steal something if they wanted to, very easy.

    also i used to tell staff i knew what they were up to all the time, and that i could see them when i took my lunch in the officeso dont even try to slack off. , i couldnt but it kept them on their toes! Because they would take advantage if given the chance, there are some fantastic staff but why should the good staff carry the bad ones?

    Caught a few on a regular basis nipping out for fags and having there friends in for a 20 minute chat while ignoring tills and customers. Staff are there to work thats what they are paid for and why shouldnt companies protect themselves against profit loss. if you dont want to do your job then quit so someone who does can earn the company more money and a better reputation with people.


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