In October 2023, UK's Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) released guidance on monitoring workers in the workplace, discussing how this interacts with data protection issues. The guidance aims to provide employers with greater regulatory clarity, to uphold workers’ data protection rights, and to help employers build trust with their workers and customers. Notably, the guidance emphasises that it refers to all ‘workers’, including those in the gig economy.

The guidance highlights that excessive monitoring can negatively impact the rights of workers. This includes intruding on workers’ right to privacy and adversely impacting their mental health. The guidance also highlights specific concerns, including monitoring communications between union representatives and workers.

The guidance underlines that employers must respect data protection requirements. Particularly the context of increasing homeworking, this includes the right to respect private and family life. Further, the guidance emphasises monitoring must be fair and transparent, including informing workers about data collection processes in a manner that is easily understood.

Importantly, the guidance highlights that worker monitoring should be discussed with employees and their representatives, including involving workers in early planning stages.

The guidance also sheds light on the use of people analytics, including solely automated decision-making, which can pose particular risks to the rights and freedoms of workers.

In October 2023, Tech Monitor released an article discussing the ICO guidance. The article emphasises how the guidance balances the need to monitor employees with protecting worker privacy. The article links such discussions with research showing 19% of people believe they have been monitored by an employer, with 70% saying they would find it “intrusive” if their employers monitored them.