Imagine: you are sitting at your workstation at home – a situation that has become common for many since the Covid-19 pandemic – except that your computer camera is rolling. It’s not “big brother“who looks at you but your manager.
Nearly 83% of complaints received by employees against their employers in 2021 relate to video surveillance, according to the Cnil report revealed exclusively on Wednesday May 11 by the antennas of Radio France. These are monitoring devices for employees working from home.
DIRECT – Telework, you are being watched! The Cnil publishes its annual report ➡️ “The basic principle is proportionality”, says Marie-Laure Denis, president of the Cnil. “An employer cannot force an employee to have a camera all day.” pic.twitter.com/hOo5WNmkwO
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) May 11, 2022
There are also keystroke recorders or reading emails. Nearly 18% of the complaints received by the CNIL relate to work.
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A frightening catalog for Erwan Le Tallec, president of the Generation Human Resources movement. “It seems a bit medieval as a processhe reacts, it has a little Germinal side of modern times.” If these drifts do not reflect for him the reality of teleworking, he admits that some managers may have felt confused by this rapid evolution.
“Previously, the authority of the manager was through his physical presence. When it becomes digital, it is he who is somehow weakened, that is to say, he is much more in demand than his team.
Erwan Le Tallec, President of Generation Human Resourcesat franceinfo
The abuse of surveillance undermines the relationship of trust, believes Raphaëlle Bertholon, confederal secretary at the CFE CGC. “Either we trust the employees and we will judge on the work and the result of the work carried out, or these are tools that will further reassure the manager’s lack of confidenceshe retorts. There may be ways other than these monitoring tools.”
The labor code requires consultation with employees to install devices at home. But the CNIL notes that most complaints are aimed at small businesses, without a legal department or data protection officer.