CCTV in the workplace

[mab]

Little advice needed.

My employer has put up a covert cctv camera in my place of work without telling any members of staff.

In my contract of employment, there is no cctv clause.
Is this legal?

[Dracon]

Yep... not very covert though by the sounds of it though!

[mab]

one of these

Put it in a room where employees and professional visitors go

[nick_houghton]

Thought there had to be some signage before recording could take place. But maybe this is only where public members go.

No more creeping off for a sly fart now!
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Cheers
Nick Houghton

[Ichy]

They can film whatever they want on private property.
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[Ariel Badger]

Do you have much to hide?
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[Raffles]

Employers don't put up discreet CCTV cameras because they're bored and want to watch their staff eagerly working. They usually install such devices to try to catch whoever it is that has been stealing from the company or from other employees.
If you don't like the intrusion then you can always exercise your right to leave the company and go steal from someone else
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A good loser will always be a loser.

[dodgydog]

PDS in Barnsley installed it to catch drivers robbing. They lost a few warehouse staff the following week, tragic it was
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I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not exactly what I meant

[southglasgow]

May want to read
https://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/cctv_code_of_practice_html/appendix3.html
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CBT June 09 - Kymco KR 125 July 09 -> Sept 09. Suzuki RV125 June 10 -> Theory June 13, MOD 1 July 13, MOD 2 August 13. Woohoo -> April 14. Yamaha XJ6N.

[brythered92]

https://www.yourrights.org.uk/faqs/workplace-faqs/my-employer-is-using-cctv-to-monitor-me-at-work-is-this-legal.html

i recently look at putting some up to monitor our staff after we had staff bags raided
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r6 99 quill pipe ....

[Skudd]

[tbourner]

We have a security policy at work, completely separate from any contracts of employment etc, you have to seek it out, basically says they can record anything they want, monitor messages, phones, emails, IM etc, record anything done on computers, whatever they deem necessary.
You've probably got a similar policy that you've never seen.
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Trev, now a biker?
Looking for first big bike.

[The Artist]

They have them where I work but they are fairly obvious. I assume it is to stop employees stealing because there is a lot of expensive stuff lying around.

Makes sense really. So long as they are not in the toilets then fine.

[Polarbear]

[hellbound]

An old employer of mine had this in the warehouse, not one but lots.

the manager in his office would then spend all day watching it and phoning warehouse manager with stuff like "two guys at end of e rack are standing talking", "so and so just went out to break 2 minutes before everyone else" etc etc
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May you always see the road rising up to meet you and your enemies defeated in the mirror behind.

[Skudd]

We watch a group of four people for just one day on the cctv system. it worked out that between them thay wasted six hours a day between them, that was 1,440 hours a year between four. take that as an average and for the 300+ staff worked out as 108,000 hours wasted a year, pay was about £5.90 at the time so that was about £637,200 wasted each year.
That was a conservative estimate. Now there were about 250 stores so that makes it nearly £160,000,000 a year wasted.
I know what I could do with that much money.
The public sector is even worse for wasting time/money .
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[The Artist]

[Alpha-9]

Are you sure its a camera and not a motion detector?
We have the same things with sensors for the intruder alarm.

There should be a policy on it ideally, in our place the CCTV only gets looked at by the police and they have to complete a form to request to view it, the boss iterated to me she's not allowed to sit there and watch it to monitor staffs and that if she did and saw for example I wasn't at my desk for half hour or something, wouldn't be able to use the evidence in a tribunal/dismissal as it was gathered unethically, or something to that effect.

Generally speaking, if your employer feels the need to buy a camera and secretly install it; he doesn't trust his staff, with probably good reason. Either that or he's got too much time on his hands and sits around watching people like a creep.

Consult HR
If it's a private company they can probably do what they want, there doesnt have to be signs to say you're on CCTV at all. People are spotted on something like 5 cameras a day without realising or something anyway

Edit: what

[Skudd]

[hellkat]

This interests me, from the point of view of how one deals with any thefts which occur on the cctv.

One has to assume that it would give a fairly good reason for summary dismissal?

But if the "correct legal procedures" were not followed, would it perhaps leave the employer open to a tribunal hearing for constructive dismissal, if they did not follow procedure correctly?

Somehow it would seem that a verbal and then a written warning seems a bit much to expect when someone is caught with their hand in someone else's handbag.

"You bad person, we saw you nicking out of this office, consider this a verbal warning, don't do it again!"

Someone asked me about this a couple of weeks ago, suggesting they might put a camera up, but I advised them to contact their HR department to find out the correct legalities.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[Skudd]

Employment law is reasonable belief were crimial law is beyond reasonable doubt. So if you had a good belief someone did something ( not just a hunch) then you can sack them. It is then for the courts to do the rest.
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Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[hellkat]

Oh dear ...

But if that reasonable belief is held by a bunch of hormonal females all winding each other up about someone else, I think incontravertible evidence is necessary (in this particular instance).







God, how does one spell incontravertable/incontravertible?
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[Skudd]

When using reasonable belief one usually goes to, or try to go to, beyond reasonable doubt, so the ladies of a certain age or the bigot at the back doesn't just say someone is guilty just because.
One would take all reasonable steps to prove the wrong doing.
____________________
Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[hellkat]

That was pretty much what I pointed out to them, and then suggested they discuss it with HR.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.