Legal Questions and Answers by
Jonathan Stones of John Barkers
Question :-
As you will be aware, there have been problems at companies around the country with people downloading pornographic material from the Internet.
At the firm I work for in North East Lincolnshire we recently had an incident in which it was discovered, purely by chance, that an employee had downloaded pornographic images. Fortunately he had the decency to quit immediately.
Whilst that was the end of that particular matter, we realise we do need to address the issue and we are looking into the steps we could take to avoid a repetition of the episode, however a friend has advised that some checks could be regarded as breach of person's right to privacy as defined in the Human Rights Act which is now in force.
Could you advise?
Answer :-
This does appear to be a problem that many companies are facing. In one of the most
high profile recent incidents, dozens of people employed by major mobile phone company
were dismissed after it was discovered that pornography had been downloaded and was being
circulated around the offices.
There are steps that a firm can take which will hopefully help to avoid these sort of
problems arising in the first place but will in any case strengthen their position if they
do have to take action.
It is most important to ensure that employees know and understand that unauthorised use of
IT systems is a disciplinary offence and, in cases of serious abuse , could result in
dismissal.
The organisation's policy should be incorporated in works rules and contracts of
employment.
To enforce such a policy you may well decide to institute a system of checks to monitor
what is going on - and employees should be made aware that this is happening too. This is
where it has been suggested that difficulties may arise in connection with the Human
Rights Act 1998, which became law on October 2nd this year.
Article 8 of the Act says that everyone has the right to respect for his private and
family life, his home and correspondence. So have we got here as conflict between an
employee's right to privacy and the employer's right to monitor what is going on?
Questions have been raised about the use of closed circuit television systems, recording
telephone calls, vetting correspondence and e-mails, particularly when it is done
secretly. It is uncharted water. No doubt the situation will be clarified by cases being
fought through the courts and employment tribunals.
Given that an employer can be held liable for defamatory or obscene e-mails sent by
employees it would be quite extraordinary if checks to guard against the IT system being
abused were regarded as a breach of human rights.
Related Article :-
Child pornography is a crime
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