National agreement signed on workplace video surveillance

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The social partners represented on Belgium's National Labour Council signed in June 1998 the country's first collective agreement regulating video surveillance at the workplace.

On 16 June 1998, the bipartite National Labour Council (Conseil National du Travail/Nationale Arbeidsraad) concluded Collective Labour Agreement No. 68 on the protection of workers' private life as regards video surveillance in the workplace. While taking into account the International Labour Organisation's code of good practice on workers' privacy and the Belgian law of 8 December 1982 on the protection of private life, employer and worker representatives on the National Labour Council wanted to define specific safeguards with respect to surveillance in the field of industrial relations. With that aim in mind, they agreed to introduce mandatory consultation and information disclosure on video surveillance in firms.

The new agreement covers all video surveillance systems, whether or not the pictures are kept, and specifies four authorised purposes for which they may be used:

• health and safety;

• protection of the firm's property;

• monitoring the impact of machinery or workers on the production process; and

• monitoring workers' output.

In relation to the first three purposes, video surveillance can be permanent, though if the monitoring of the production process is carried out on workers - to improve the organisation of work, for instance - the surveillance should be temporary only. This is also the case for the fourth point, monitoring workers' output to fix earnings.

The agreement specifies that surveillance "should be appropriate, relevant and not excessive with respect to the objective" (Article 7 of the agreement) and that it should not intrude into private life (Article 8). In other words, it should be employed with moderation.

While written in general terms, this agreement does introduce some innovations with respect to the protection afforded by the law.

First, it imposes an obligation to inform workplace joint bodies and trade union delegations on the introduction of video surveillance, stating the following:

• the purpose of the surveillance;

• whether or not pictures are kept;

• the number of cameras and where they are placed; and

• the operating periods.

Second, it imposes an obligation to consult the same bodies if it appears that video surveillance might have an impact on workers' private life. In that event, employers are required to reduce intrusion to a minimum.

Third, in the event of a production process check on workers or on workers' output, a joint agreement must be obtained.

It should, however, be noted that in small firms without employee representative structures, these mechanisms are uncertain.