Workplace surveillance

UK employment law reforms on the horizon (as at July 2026)

Workplace surveillance technologies

A consultation on how workplace surveillance technologies are implemented in the workplace, including the role of trade unions and worker representatives (it is expected to include a duty to meaningfully consult with them).

Implementation Status

  • Consultation on Workplace Monitoring Technologies: closes 30 September 2026
  • Not part of the ERA.
     
Action

  • Ensure any existing workplace surveillance technologies comply with current legal requirements and regulatory guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office.

In detail
  • The government has published a consultation on the fair, transparent and responsible use of workplace monitoring technologies - tools used to collect, track, analyse or make decisions based on information about workers and their activities.
  • The consultation seeks views on eight principles reflecting the government's pre-consultation view of good practice: purpose and rationale; transparency and understanding; worker engagement and voice; fairness and equality; necessity, proportionality and privacy; human oversight and accountability; dignity and wellbeing; and accuracy, reliability and review.
  • The consultation considers three potential interventions:
    • A statutory code of practice plus guidance
    • A legislative duty to consult with trade unions or elected representatives

    • Non-statutory guidance.

      The government will draw on consultation responses and available evidence before deciding whether any intervention is justified.
       

Impact

  • Hybrid working and performance management (including the removal of the unfair dismissal qualifying period), increasing use of AI and taking measures to mitigate risks such as third party harassment or ungenuine sickness absence, is likely to see more employers looking (or perhaps inadvertently finding themselves adopting) surveillance tools in the workplace. 

  • If a duty to consult is introduced, this would reflect the direction of travel in recent EU legislation, for example in relation to platform workers which requires employers to involve worker representatives on the use of AI and algorithmic decision making.