Law firm warns businesses against snooping on employees

BIRMINGHAM law firm Shakespeares has told businesses in the West Midlands they have to respect the integrity of their employees and should not snoop on their personal email inboxes or voice messages without good reason.

Shakespeares said the fallout from the phone hacking scandal at News International was likely to mean a closer scrutiny of employers’ use of investigatory powers to monitor the activities of their employees, especially their usage of internal communications networks.

The Information Commissioner has already announced plans to review the laws surrounding phone hacking and regulation in this area is likely to be tightened in the future.

Under current UK law, employers are permitted to monitor their employees’ internet use and their email, text and phone messages in some limited specific circumstances. For example, monitoring is allowed if employers have reason to believe an employee is doing something they should not, which may or may not include criminal activity, or where it is in the interests of national security.  In some instances, monitoring may also be permissible for quality or business continuity reasons, but the law states that employees must be warned in advance this may happen.

Shakespeares said some SMEs in the Midlands may not have the necessary communications usage policy in place. As a result, they are unlikely to have their employees’ consent to monitor their communications messages while they are away on holiday. It said without this, there were significant legal risks in carrying out any monitoring, such as reviewing staff emails and voicemails.

Paula Whelan, employment law partner, said: “The phone hacking scandal has demonstrated how important it is that employers act responsibly in this area and are perceived to be doing the right thing when it comes to using their investigatory powers to monitor their employees’ communications activity.

“At this time of year it is especially important employers are as open as possible with their employees about any monitoring that could take place while they are away on holiday and state the business reasons for this. Having a clear communications policy in place, preferably signed by employees, can help to ensure that the entire workforce is aware of any potential monitoring activity.”

She added some employers may believe they already have the consent of their employees to monitor their communications activity because they have included clauses referring to their use of investigatory powers in employment contracts. However, this practice may not stand up to closer scrutiny if complaints about the intrusive nature of monitoring activity arise in the future.

“Employers need to review their policies and practices in this area to ensure any monitoring of employees’ communications is reasonable and justified and carried out as openly as possible, where necessary, with the consent of individual workers,” she said.

“It is still important that employers adhere to best practice in this area and seek legal advice.”