In broad terms, what the Act requires is that any adverse impact
on workers is justied by the benets to the employer and others.
This code is designed to help employers determine when this might
be the case.
This part of the code applies where activities that are commonly
referred to as “monitoring” are taking place or are planned. This
means activities that set out to collect information about workers by
keeping them under some form of observation, normally with a view
to checking their performance or conduct. This could be done either
directly, indirectly, perhaps by examining their work output, or by
electronic means.
This part of code is primarily directed at employers – especially
larger organisations – using or planning some form of
. This is where the employer monitors all workers
or particular groups of workers as a matter of routine, perhaps
by using an electronic system to scan all e-mail messages or by
installing monitoring devices in all company vehicles.
The Act still applies to . This is where
the employer introduces monitoring as a short term measure in
response to a particular problem or need, for example by keeping
a watch on the e-mails sent by a worker suspected of racial
harassment or by installing a hidden camera when workers are
suspected of drug dealing on the employer’s premises.
This part of the code deals with both types of monitoring, but it is
likely to be of most relevance to employers involved in systematic
monitoring, which will generally be larger organisations.
There is no hard-and-fast denition of ‘Monitoring’ to which this part
of the code applies. Examples of activities addressed in this part of
the code include:
• gathering information through point of sale terminals, to check the
efciency of individual supermarket check-out operators
• recording the activities of workers by means of CCTV cameras,
either so that the recordings can be viewed routinely to ensure
that health and safety rules are being complied with, or so that
they are available to check on workers in the event of a health
and safety breach coming to light
• randomly opening up individual workers’ e-mails or listening to
their voice-mails to look for evidence of malpractice
• using automated checking software to collect information about
workers, for example to nd out whether particular workers are
sending or receiving inappropriate e-mails
Part 3: Monitoring at work 59