Digital control in the workplace: the interest of the employer and the right to privacy of the employee

The article is devoted to the study of digital control in the workplace from the standpoint of a balance between the interest of the employer and the right to privacy of the employee. It is noted that the employer’s control over the performance by employees of their labor duties is one of the main signs of labor relations. The article is aimed at researching digital monitoring and control at the employee’s workplace in the context of ensuring the right to privacy of the employee. Attention is drawn to the fact that the current Labor Code of Ukraine does not contain general norms on the concept, types, procedure for the employer to exercise control over the performance of labor duties by employees, while some norms mention control by the employer. It is established that using various devices and digital technologies, the employer uses increasingly non-traditional forms of control and monitoring of employee behavior. It is emphasized that through digital control of employees in the workplace, the employer realizes his interests. Cases of monitoring of electronic correspondence are considered. It is argued that the implementation of digital control by the employer may violate the right of workers to privacy in the workplace. It is substantiated that, in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine, everyone is guaranteed privacy. It is emphasized that the national labor legislation does not contain norms that would enshrine the right to privacy of the employee in the workplace, as well as that there are no norms that would determine the grounds and limits of the admissibility of interference in the employee’s private life. Based on the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, a legal description of the concept of «private life» has been provided, taking into account the provisions of Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The practice of the European Court of Human Rights on violation of the employee’s right to privacy in the workplace, in particular the right to privacy and privacy of correspondence, the right to privacy in the implementation of video surveillance of employees in the workplace, has been analyzed. The decisions of national courts to protect the rights of workers to privacy in the workplace have been studied. The criteria of the employer’s interference with the right to privacy of the employee are defined and the ways of ensuring the right to privacy in the workplace are proposed.