Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance: The British Context

Abstract

This paper reviews the monitoring of employees by their organisations across a variety of sectors and industries in British workplaces. The contribution of the paper is to approach empirically the reasons that employers give for engaging in monitoring and how employees assess the practice. Valuable distinctions are raised in terms of different employee attitudes to surveillance within and outside the workplace. The findings are derived from interviews with human resource managers, managers, trade union representatives, employers and employees.