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Attention: industrial, business, jobs and internet correspondents

snooping at work: know your rights

The TUC today (Wednesday) launches an online guide to monitoring and surveillance at work on its working life website, workSMART.org.uk The guide helps employees understand the implications for them of the government’s new code advising employers on monitoring email, phonecalls and internet use at work.

Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, said:

'With advances in monitoring technology, some workplaces have come to resemble TV’s Big Brother, only without the prizes. Workers do have rights to privacy, but they need to be aware of them in order to stand up for them. Staff, unions, and employers need to arrive at a solution which balances business needs with the right to individual privacy.'

http://www.workSMART.org.uk

Questions answered on the new workSMART guide to monitoring include:

• Am I being monitored without my knowledge?
• Do I have a right to know what information my employer has collected through monitoring me at work?
• Is my boss allowed to listen to my voicemail or open my email whilst I’m away from work?
• My employer wants to discipline me for forwarding inappropriate e-mails. What should I do?

Notes to editors:

workSMART is a free resource for anyone at work, giving impartial and authoritative advice on issues of employment rights, health at work, and pensions. workSMART can be found at http://www.worksmart.org.uk

The Information Commissioner’s Employment Code of Practice on Monitoring at Work contains a guide for employers, and can be found at http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Contacts:

Media enquiries: Ben Hurley 020 7467 1248 or 07626 317903 (pager) or email media@tuc.org.uk

Press release (300 words) issued 11 Jun 2003