Researchers Say Australia's Worker Surveillance Laws Are 'Dangerously Out of Date'
Published
Researchers in Australia are calling for changes to the rules that control how employers watch their staff. They say the current laws do not protect workers well enough as technology for monitoring employees becomes more common and more advanced.
The researchers want the Fair Work Act to be amended. Under their proposal, any monitoring of employees would have to be fair and reasonable. This means that businesses would need to have clear and sensible reasons for tracking workers, whether they use cameras, computer software or other digital tools to check what staff are doing.
Supporters of the change argue that workplace monitoring can affect employees' privacy and wellbeing, especially when workers do not know how much they are being observed. Changing the law, they say, would help create a balance between an employer's need to manage its business and a worker's right to privacy. The researchers have described the present legal framework as 'dangerously out of date', arguing that it was not designed for the digital tools that many Australian workplaces now use.
The call for reform is likely to be discussed further by policymakers, employers and unions in the coming months. For now, the proposal remains a recommendation from researchers, and no final decision has been made about whether the Fair Work Act will be changed.
Sources: Human Resources Director
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