1/29/16 · Economics and Business Studies

(More) monitored workers

The ruling in the Barbulescu case, the Romanian engineer who was fired for having written personal emails with his corporate mail account during the working day, highlights how in just a short space of time, the use of ICT has wrought huge changes in the organization of companies. Increasingly more companies are expanding business control with regard to workers' rights: controlling emails and WhatsApps, regulating the use of workers' personal or company mobile, and examining tweets or the use of social media are just some of the new challenges facing the business organization of the twenty-first century, and with it the workers themselves.
Photo: Flickr / Servando Miramontes (CC)

Photo: Flickr / Servando Miramontes (CC)

Rights in the use of ICT in the work sphere

Pere Vidal, collaborating lecturer with the UOC Faculty of Law and Political Science and employment lawyer, states that everything is based on the premise of whether "the company has explicit rules for controlling the use of devices (mail, mobile and computer)".

If the answer is yes, "the workers' right to privacy and secrecy of communications may be limited, but they will be aware of it and it is understood that the employee will act responsibly". According to a study, "33% of Spaniards (one in three) who know their company's restrictions say that they defy policies and regularly access Facebook," says Ana Isabel Jiménez Zarco, lecturer at the UOC Faculty of Economics and Business. The expert claims that "it is impossible to eradicate these practices" and proposes a change of paradigm: "try to ensure that the use of social media is not 100% personal, in other words, for the worker to become a spokesperson for the company". She adds that we need to "turn it into user-generated content, something that has an influence on the opinion and behaviour of potential consumers of the brand".


Limits on the use of ICT at work

If the company does not have a clear policy or has not warned of this control
– at present, 55% of companies do not have usage policies for devices in the workplace – "the possible inspections that the company might impose would mean a breach of the workers' privacy and an offence of disclosure of secrets," warns Vidal.


Can the company control the use I make of my personal mobile?

According to Vidal, yes it can, "providing there is an established usage control and the worker is using it during work time". For example, with the use of WhatsApp at work, which is showing itself to be a problem for the future, according to a study, this app is the most distracting, as 32% of workers check their terminal every 15 minutes. Can the use of the corporate telephone be monitored? "This too, as it is understood that it is another means of work that the company provides to the worker, and as such the company can, therefore, control the use that is made of it. In fact, it is legal for the company to monitor audios and make random recordings of telephone conversations".


And personal email?

With regard to the use of email, the expert states that if the worker accesses their personal mail in the workplace, "the company will be able to monitor both the personal and the corporate email providing it has informed the workers of the rules on the use of these means and that they are accessing using a tool belonging to the company."

According to Vidal, the computer has undergone great changes: "before 2007 it was a tool that was considered to be a personal and private effect of the worker, the same way as their locker; it was untouchable." Nowadays, claims Vidal, "it has become completely removed from this sphere, as it is considered not to apply to monitoring IT resources".


Can it come to dismissal?

As far as Mr Vidal is concerned, "not if there are no clear rules on use, because there are no internal regulations that ban it". According to the Law lecturer, "the company has to act consistently and proportionately in each case. The warning or penalty circuit has to be as follows: "the worker is warned, and if they persist, they will be penalized. If they continue not to comply, the company would be able to see it as indiscipline or disobedience." Vidal states that if the worker makes an evidently illegal use of the devices, such as "downloading illegal software on the company computer, the company would be within its rights to dismiss the worker for damage to property".


Does ICT harm productivity?

According to a study by Adecco, workers lose up to 10 hours a month to distractions relating to the use of social media and apps, which translates into a total loss of 13 working days a year. Both Pere Vidal and Ana Isabel Jiménez Zarco believe that, despite the figures, companies should equip themselves with "usage rules and policies for new technologies that recommend responsible use rather than policies that place complete bans on personal use". Zarco favours human resources policies that are based on "trust in the worker: flexibility, autonomy, assumption of responsibilities and recognition of the worker". The UOC expert states that "we should not be controlling the use of social media or WhatsApp but instead consider that even if the worker uses them, they are aware of their responsibilities and will make sure they are met".

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