Employee right to privacy?

04CELICA140

Hi everyone,

Simple query.

Work for an employer who has about 8 different shops spread over 5 or six counties.
Last week cameras were installed in every shop that was sending a live feed right back to the bosses headoffice.
Now this was ok as he can do what he likes that way but..............
today i found out that the cameras have a microphone in them..
Simple questions.
What are my rights?
Is he allowed to record our conversations?
What can i do?

Thanks in advance...

matrim

As far as I know he's allowed once the employees are aware of the locations. But I'm open to correction on that as it's only something I heard a few years ago.

04CELICA140

Yea we know about the cameras and what there for but
as for recording our conversations??????
i do hope he cant do that. if he can its shocking!!!!!

seamus

Depends on where the cameras are installed. If they're installed in places where you have no expectation of privacy (such as on the shop floor, in the stock room or behind the tills), then there's nothing you can do about it.

If they're installed in private places such as the changing rooms or toilets, then there's a problem.

Recording conversations is exactly the same. However, much like camera footage, he can only hold onto recordings for a certain length of time. Most shops only hold onto a week or two worth of video (as any incidents would have become clear within that timeframe).

04CELICA140

Any official link about recording our conversations?
As i know the cameras are legal.
thanks

Dewie

Your conversations can only be recorded if you have been notified and only with your explicit consent (preferably a countersigned notification). This practise is immoral and unprofessional and totally unethical in the modern workplace. If I were you I would pursue Greivance Procedures on this one. Consult your HR Dept as to the Greivance Policy.... assuming there is one. If there isn't, they are in breach of legislation.

seamus

Dewie wrote: »

Your conversations can only be recorded if you have been notified and only with your explicit consent (preferably a countersigned notification).

To the best of my knowledge, this only applies where the person's conversation is the subject of the recording - i.e. the employer has put the equipment in place purely for the purpose of recording employee conversations.

If the conversations are recorded incidentally (i.e. they just happen to be audible by the camera), I don't think there's any requirement to notify the employee.

However, it does put the employer in a quandry because they would be unable to act on any conversation recorded unless it specifically related to the running of their business. That is, if an employee was recorded talking about how completely off his head on drugs he got the previous weekend, the employer can't use that information to fire him.

Any official link about recording our conversations?

It's very rare for legislation to say what is legal, they usually tell you what's *not* legal. So if there is no legislation to say that recording a conversation is illegal, then it's probably legal. That's not to say the legislation doesn't exist, I haven't looked for it.

SerialComplaint

Check http://www.dataprivacy.ie for more details