Can I use CCTV to record my employees?

Though a useful security tool, CCTV can have a significant impact on individuals’ privacy and, as such, cannot be used indiscriminately. Our Employment Law team here discusses when employers can use CCTV, the rights of employees to respect for their privacy, and whether covert CCTV monitoring is ever lawful. 

When is CCTV lawful?

The Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) guidance on the use of CCTV monitoring states that it should only be used when necessary to meet a pressing need. This could include:

• Security of staff;
• Preventing theft or vandalism;
• Monitoring employee performance and workplace efficiency;
• Monitoring compliance with health and safety policies.

However, the monitoring must also be proportionate. Before implementing CCTV in your workplace you must conduct a privacy impact assessment and consider the effect that CCTV monitoring may have on individuals’ right to privacy and whether the pressing need could be met by less intrusive methods.

In most cases, employees and other visitors to your workplace must be informed that they are being recorded, which you can do by posting clear signage in areas of the workplace that are monitored and by mentioning CCTV in your employee privacy notice. Employees should also be told why you are recording the footage and how long you expect to keep it.

You must also take appropriate steps to ensure the security of the footage. CCTV storage devices should be kept somewhere secure, such as in a locked room, where only a limited number of authorised individuals will have access. If your CCTV uses wireless communication links, the ICO recommends that the signals be encrypted to prevent interception. Recorded footage should be kept for no longer than necessary and promptly deleted once it has satisfied its purpose.  

Employee rights regarding CCTV

Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights gives everyone in the UK the right to respect for family and private life and previous decisions from the European Court of Human Rights have indicated that in certain circumstances, CCTV monitoring may violate this right. It is important then that you inform your employees of any monitoring and that it is no more intrusive than necessary.

Anyone who visits your workplace, including employees, also has the right to make a data subject access request (DSAR) and be granted access to any CCTV footage on which they appear. You have 40 days to respond to a DSAR and you must document all requests for access, instances where access was granted, and the reasons for any refusals. Before releasing the CCTV footage to the data subject, you should also consider whether privacy considerations require you to obscure the images of other individuals on the footage.

Covert Video Recording of employees

Covert CCTV recording will rarely be justified and should only be used where you have a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity or equally serious malpractice is being committed, and informing employees of the presence of CCTV would hinder your investigation. Before utilising covert CCTV you should carry out a privacy impact assessment to ensure that covert surveillance is necessary and proportionate, and that it impacts the least amount of individuals possible. Covert recording should only go on for as long as is necessary to carry out your investigation and should not occur where employees have a genuine and reasonable expectation of privacy, such as the toilets or a changing room.

Any information collected that does not relate to the original purpose of the covert surveillance should be disregarded and deleted, unless it is information that no reasonable employer could be expected to ignore. For example, if you set up covert CCTV to investigate suspected theft, you could use the footage if it captured another crime being committed, but you could not use it to monitor employee performance.

If you have any questions surrounding the lawfulness of CCTV monitoring or would like help drafting a CCTV policy, contact our Employment Law Team today on on 023 8071 7717 or email employment@warnergoodman.co.uk.

To receive regular Employment Law updates from the team regarding recent tribunal cases and legislation updates, you can subscribe to our weekly Employment Law Newsletter by completing our subscription form or emailing us at events@warnergoodman.co.uk. 

ENDS

This is for information purposes only and is no substitute for, and should not be interpreted as, legal advice.  All content was correct at the time of publishing and we cannot be held responsible for any changes that may invalidate this article.