Nine out of 10 NSW companies keep tabs on their staff.
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Next time you arrive at work and plonk yourself into your chair, consider this: you may be being watched.

Surveillance of Australian workers is more common than many people realise, with more than 90 per cent of NSW companies keeping tabs on their staff, according to a 2005 survey.

Techniques range from the ham-fisted, such as video cameras positioned above work stations, to the sophisticated and subtle, such as GPS tracking of vehicles and remote monitoring of internet use.

In NSW, workers receive some protection from the Workplace Surveillance Act, which makes it illegal for companies to monitor employees without disclosure. Nationally, the practice is less clearly defined, with no over-arching legislation to protect the rights of workers and employers.

A 2004 report by the NSW Council for Civil Liberties found that employers in favour of staff surveillance saw numerous benefits: cutting their internet and phone bills and increasing productivity; reducing exposure to liability risks, such as the circulation of pornographic emails; and providing greater security against theft, vandalism and sabotage.

Opponents of surveillance in the workplace argue data collected could be misused by employers to unfairly dismiss staff and discriminate. Its use could contribute to stress and resentment, lower morale and compromise privacy and dignity.

So how do workers and staff agree on an acceptable level of surveillance? Michael Pearce, SC, president of the human rights group Liberty Victoria, says negotiation is important.

"A lot will depend on what the particular concerns are in the individual's workplace," he says. "If there's a concern about pilfering, for example, then there's obviously a justification there."

He says other situations where surveillance might be justified include suspicion of harassment and bullying of staff.

"I would have thought that there needs to be some underlying basis for the surveillance and in the absence of such a concern, it's hard to see that there's any justification for it," he says.

Pearce says Australia's rising unemployment rate may complicate the issue. Employees may find themselves forced to accept unreasonable workplace security demands. "The employers are holding all of the cards these days," he says. "Individual employment contracts are a pretty hot issue in the industrial relations area [as is] the extent to which such contracts are enforceable. It would be open to the

Government to legislate to prevent that sort of thing and it's maybe something they should be considering."

Dr Peter Holland, a lecturer at Monash University's faculty of business, says generations view the surveillance issue differently.

"People under 25 have grown up with the internet and mobile phones where they can be tracked anywhere within two or three metres, so that generation doesn't think much of it," he says. "Older people, like myself, remember a time when you could not be found and are concerned by seeing these incremental developments in monitoring and surveillance."

When employers go too far in monitoring staff, the consequences can be dire. A few examples of surveillance gone wrong include Sydney lawyer Robert Harper installing cameras in the female toilets of his law firm in 2001 (he was fined) and the suicide of former Telstra technician Leon Dousset in 2007. In a 2008 Four Corners report, Dousset's family linked his suicide to Telstra's demanding performance
targets and the installation of GPS trackers.

Last year's Australian Law Reform Commission review of privacy and the current Senate submissions about Labor's Fair Work bill are increasing the profile of workplace privacy issues.

Harmers Workplace Lawyers says employers wishing to use surveillance should adhere to several guidelines to protect themselves and their workers.

They should have a written policy on workplace surveillance that specifies employees may be monitored at work and ensure this is brought to the attention of, and understood by, all employees.

If employers opt to block employee emails, they should have a system in place that sends a prevented delivery alert. They should ensure surveillance cameras are clearly visible and all areas under surveillance, including vehicles and GPS-tracked objects, are marked.