Communiqué, issue 4, 2003
Articles
- An abrupt halt to a brilliant career
- Monitoring industrial change in Europe
- Time for European-level workplace privacy regulation
- Northern Europeans most satisfied with leisure time
- Towards better living and working conditions in Europe
- Planning for the future
- Win-win effect possible with new working time arrangements
- Track record in monitoring working conditions
Previous issues of Communiqué
The use of new information and communication technologies (ICT) at the workplace has spread rapidly in recent years. This raises numerous issues for employers, employees and their representatives, especially in terms of the relationship between workers’ privacy and employers’ need to control and monitor the use of ICT.
The August 2003 comparative study from the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) focuses on an important issue resulting from the growth of ICT: the relationship between internet/email use at work and respect for workers’ privacy. It highlights the need for clear regulation at European level by mapping and comparing the differences in existing European and national law on workplace privacy, and it offers the views of the social partners. The matter is especially topical at present, with the European Commission expected to propose a Directive on workplace data protection in 2004 or 2005.
While the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and other national data protection legislation clearly spell out the privacy rights of the individual, the rules and regulations governing privacy at the workplace are based on a complex web of guidelines and individual agreements at company level, often compromising either the individual worker’s or the employer’s rights.
Against the backdrop of increasing use of new technology, and particularly of email and the internet in the employment context, the frontier between private life and work life is becoming increasingly blurred. The EIRO study concludes that the use of new technology at the workplace must be examined as part of a broader context incorporating respect for privacy and the protection of personal data in a work setting.
The risks of conflicting interests on either side of the employment relationship have grown sharply over the last few years, given the increased use of ICT at the workplace and in all aspects of enterprises’ activities. The EIRO study asks such pertinent questions as: ‘To what extent may a worker use ICT equipment for private reasons given that a general ban on the use of the internet for other than professional reasons does not appear realistic in an information/ communication society?’ and ‘How far can employers’ actions aimed at preventing potential dangers be extended without undermining workers’ fundamental rights?’
The EIRO comparative study, New technology and the respect for privacy at the workplace, is available at www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2003/07/study/TN0307101S.html