Trade unions have expressed concern that some employers may be monitoring workers without their consent.
Since the growth of remote working, employers are increasingly using various technologies to keep tabs on employees working from home.
On The Pat Kenny Show today, Employment Law Solicitor Richard Grogan outlined what workers need to look out for.
"You can't do covert surveillance", he said.
"They have to have a policy, it has to set out exactly what's going to be done, what's going to be checked."
"The issue then is always going to be whether it's reasonable."
"The technology is such that the employer can effectively sometimes see without you knowing that the camera is there, actually on and recording."
If employers do not inform their staff of any surveillance, they breach GDPR, which could result in a claim in the circuit court or a complaint to the Data Protection Commissioner.
"The technology is such that the employer can effectively sometimes see without you knowing that the camera is there, actually on and recording."
Grogan said employees also have a right to ask for copies of anything that is being recorded and know exactly what it's being used for.
"It's the equivalent of having your boss sitting over your shoulder watching what you're doing."
Laura Bambrick, Head of Social Policy and Employment Affairs at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions described the surveillance of remote workers as a "real area of concern" for trade unions.
"What we seen when we moved overnight to working remotely was really a more boom in formal surveillance and that was requiring workers to keep on their laptop camera or microphones to allow their supervisor to do impromptu comments."
"How it works is you will have a software running in the background that is counting your keyboard, your mouse usage, your web browser activity, and maybe even taking a photograph screenshots of what you're working on every few minutes."
"It's the equivalent of having your boss sitting over your shoulder watching what you're doing."
New employees
Bambrick said new employees are particularly at risk of being subject to illegal monitoring.
"This is a problem in non-unionised workplaces where there's a power imbalance between the worker and the employer."
She warned potential employees that, when applying for jobs that involve remote work, they may be asked to agree to surveillance before accepting an offer.
Bambrick doesn't believe employers keeping such tabs on workers is necessary.
"We can all tell stories of people we've worked with who are work-shy, whether they're working remotely or whether they're under the eye of their employer in the workplace premises."
"Most workers turn into work they do the work timely, efficient, and that doesn't matter where the working."
Main image shows a woman typing at laptop working from home. Image: Tony Tallec/Alamy Stock Photo
