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.
Article 11(a)
Under changes introduced in April 2019 to the Labour Code, providing more details on the rules on monitoring and surveillance, it is stated that the employer has a right to monitor whether employees are fulfilling their job-related tasks according to their instructions.
The employer may use technical equipment to exercise this right, but it must be justifiably in connection with the employee’s work and it must be proportionate. Such justification may be the protection of employer property, but surveillance cannot be used to measure employee productivity (for example by video surveillance). An exception may be when the surveillance serves the purpose of the health and safety of the employee, such as at an industrial site. Human dignity must be observed at all times, thus cameras cannot be placed in private spaces where the employee has the right to privacy and rest (showers and dressing rooms, kitchens or dining spaces, facilities for resting).
General GDPR rules must be observed when handling all data collected in this way and employees must be duly notified of any surveillance beforehand.
The Hungarian National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (NAIH) is authorised to impose fines for breaches of these rules. The largest fine related to data protection imposed in 2022 was HUF 250 million (€658,000). This case was related to the data handling and analysis of Budapest Bank related to recordings of telephone calls received by its call centre between May 2018 and September 2021. NAIH found it especially problematic that the analysis of the calls included examining the emotional states and reactions of participants in the call, which is in breach of handling data of clients as well as employees and rules on obtaining informed consent.
Eurofound (2023), Hungary: Employee monitoring and surveillance, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/employee-monitoring-and-surveillance/hungary
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