European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legal regulations provides information on regulations in the Member States of the European Union and Norway which are explicitly or implicitly linked to anticipating and managing change.
Labour code, article L2312-38 (informing staff representatives) Labour code, articles L1221-9 to L1222-4 (individual information to employees) Labour code, article L1121-1 (principle of proportionality) Internal Security Code, L223-1 et seq (fight against terrorism) Internal Security Code, L251-1 et seq., when the cameras are filming places open to the publicLoi n° 78-17 du 6 janvier 1978 relative à l'informatique, aux fichiers et aux libertés, article 104 Civil code, article 9 (Respect for privacy) Penal code, article 226-1 (recording of a person's image without their knowledge in a private place) Penal code, article 226-18 (unfair or unlawful collection) Penal code, article 226-20 (excessive storage time) Penal code, article 226-21 (misuse of the system) Penal code, article R625-10 (failure to inform persons)
There is no specific legislation governing the surveillance of employees, but rather a set of rules derived from several pieces of legislation.
Surveillance cameras
Employers may not install cameras on their premises without defining a purpose, which must be legal and legitimate. For example, cameras can be installed in the workplace to ensure the safety of people and property, as a deterrent or to identify the perpetrators of theft, damage or assault. The employer's right of surveillance is recognised, but is subject to certain limits: * Respect for employees' individual rights and freedoms, which do not disappear within the company; * transparency: in principle, employees must be informed of the monitoring system, and the social and economic committee or works council must be consulted; * compliance with the principles laid down by the GDPR; * the proportionality requirement: the control must be justified by a legitimate interest (productivity, security, company image, etc.) and must not be excessive.
Geolocation devices
These devices can be installed in vehicles used by employees to: * Monitor, justify and invoice the transport of people, goods or services directly linked to the use of the vehicle. * Ensure the safety of the employee, the goods or the vehicles in their charge, and in particular to recover the vehicle in the event of theft (for example, with an inert device that can be activated remotely as soon as the theft is reported). * Better allocation of resources for services to be provided in dispersed locations, particularly for emergency interventions. * Optionally, monitor working hours when this cannot be done by any other means. * Comply with a legal or regulatory obligation requiring the use of a geolocation system due to the type of transport or the nature of the goods being transported. * To monitor compliance with the rules governing the use of the vehicle.
However, a geolocation device installed in a vehicle made available to an employee may not be used: * to monitor compliance with speed limits. * to monitor an employee at all times. * In particular, it may not be used: in the vehicle of an employee who is free to organise his or her movements; to monitor the movements of employee representatives in the context of their mandate; to collect location data outside working hours, including to combat theft or check compliance with the conditions of use of the vehicle; * to calculate employees' working hours when another system already exists.
Video recording or screen capture coupled with telephone conversation recording
For the purposes of staff training or appraisal, employers may couple computer actions with telephone conversations, for example by recording the image of what appears on the employee's computer screen, in the form of screen captures or a video, at the same time as recording telephone conversations.
However, the use of this device can lead to employees being monitored or to private information being captured (personal emails, instant messaging conversations or confidential passwords). It is particularly intrusive and must therefore be strictly supervised. In principle, screen captures cannot be used in conjunction with recordings of telephone conversations. The CNIL considers that, whatever the purpose, a screen capture is likely to be neither relevant nor proportionate, since it is a frozen image of an isolated action by the employee, which does not faithfully reflect his or her work. There may be a link between the recording of telephone conversations and video recording of the screen, under certain conditions. In view of the impact and risks of misuse and surveillance associated with these devices, the coupling of telephone recordings with the image (screen capture or video) of the employee's actions is disproportionate when used for purposes other than training, such as staff appraisal, combating internal fraud, etc. The employer must then use alternative means to this type of device.
Access to an employee's email in their absence
In order to avoid infringing employees' privacy, as they may make private use of their email, which is not prohibited, the employer must set the conditions for consulting email while they are absent. These rules may, for example, be set out in an IT charter specific to the company: they must be known by the employees, who will be informed of the terms and conditions for consulting and using their email during their absence. In this way, the rules laid down in advance, in complete transparency, can avoid the risk of subsequent disputes. The courts consider that any message received or sent from the workstation provided by the employer is, in principle, of a professional nature. In this case, the employer may consult them. However, if the message is clearly identified as personal, for example if the subject line clearly states that it is a private or personal message, the employer must not look at it. He must respect the confidentiality of correspondence
A survey (https://www.softwareadvice.fr/blog/3625/controle-de-l-activite-des-salaries-avis-employeurs-managers) by Software Advice, carried out among 239 managers and company directors in April 2023 and entitled "Nearly 7 out of 10 companies want to continue investing in employee monitoring tools", reveals that, contrary to popular belief, the Covid-19 pandemic is not the origin of workplace monitoring tools. "In fact, 36% of the professionals questioned were doing so before the pandemic, whereas today 63% are doing so". Companies' relative confidence in their employees, therefore, is largely based on the very presence of employees at work. "More than a third (35%) mainly monitor employee presence (whether they are online or offline, or active or inactive)", the study reveals. Of the managers and business leaders surveyed, 27% monitor time management, 23% monitor IT activity (Internet access, searches carried out, etc.) and 21% monitor workload management.
Eurofound (2023), France: Employee monitoring and surveillance, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/employee-monitoring-and-surveillance/france
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