Workplace Monitoring: Employer’s Right or Violation of Employee Rights?
In today’s business world, employers utilize various monitoring mechanisms to protect their businesses, enhance productivity, and fulfill legal obligations. With the rapid advancement of digitalization, employees’ activities in the workplace have become more closely monitored. However, this process brings a significant challenge in balancing the employer’s right to monitor and employees’ fundamental rights. Monitoring mechanisms commonly used in the workplace include the inspection of email correspondence, tracking internet usage, recording telephone conversations, surveillance cameras, and GPS tracking. Although the employer’s monitoring authority is not unlimited, its exercise is restricted by the Constitution, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the Law on the Protection of Personal Data (KVKK), and other relevant legal provisions.
Scope of Employer Monitoring
The employer’s monitoring authority is granted to maintain workplace order, ensure compliance with employment contracts, and safeguard business security. However, the implementation of this authority must adhere to specific principles to avoid infringing on employees’ fundamental rights and freedoms. The following principles must be considered to ensure that monitoring mechanisms comply with the law:
- Principle of Proportionality: Employer monitoring must serve a specific purpose and should not involve excessive intervention. Monitoring activities should be directly related to the job requirements and designed to minimally interfere with employees’ private lives.
- Notification and Consent: Employers must inform employees in advance about monitoring processes and obtain their explicit consent for certain monitoring activities. Surveillance activities conducted without employees’ knowledge may constitute a legal violation. The scope of monitoring activities should be clearly communicated to employees through employment contracts, internal regulations, and workplace policies.
- Legitimate Purpose: Employer monitoring should be conducted solely for legitimate business purposes. The primary objectives include ensuring workplace security, protecting trade secrets, maintaining work discipline, and overseeing business processes.
- Confidentiality and Data Protection: Employers may process employees’ personal data only when there is a legal basis. Under KVKK, employees’ privacy must be protected, and any collected data should only be used for the designated purpose. Sharing this data with third parties or retaining it beyond the necessary period may constitute a legal violation.
Legal Framework for Workplace Monitoring Mechanisms
- Monitoring of Emails and Internet Usage
Employers may monitor corporate email accounts assigned to employees and workplace internet access. However, these monitoring activities must not violate employees’ right to privacy and freedom of communication. Email monitoring should be limited to corporate accounts, and employers should refrain from reviewing employees’ personal correspondence. Employers must provide clear information regarding workplace email and internet usage policies and communicate these policies in writing through guidelines or contract clauses. Employers should implement monitoring mechanisms strictly related to business processes and avoid unnecessarily recording employees’ internet browsing history or sharing such data with third parties. Internet monitoring should be restricted to working hours.
Monitoring metadata, such as the recipient, sender, and timestamp of emails, without accessing the content, does not require employee consent. Although judicial bodies have not established a uniform precedent on this matter, prevailing practices suggest that employers should notify employees in writing before conducting email monitoring. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has emphasized that employees should be informed about communication monitoring; otherwise, employees’ reasonable expectation of privacy will be upheld. If no prior notice is provided, employee consent must be obtained. Additionally, under Article 7/2 of Law No. 5651, employers are responsible for preventing access to illegal content through workplace internet services. To comply with this obligation, employers may prefer using filtering software rather than directly reviewing email content without explicit consent.
- GPS Tracking
Employers may use GPS systems to track company vehicles assigned to employees. However, such tracking must adhere to specific legal criteria to ensure compliance. GPS tracking systems must be restricted to working hours and job-related purposes. To prevent interference with employees’ private lives outside working hours, employers should provide an option to deactivate the tracking system. Employees must be clearly informed about the purpose, scope, and duration of GPS tracking, and their consent must be obtained. GPS data must be processed only in proportion to the job requirements and used strictly for its designated purpose.
- Monitoring of Telephone Calls
Employers may monitor the usage of company-provided telephones for business purposes, provided that employees are informed in advance. However, recording or listening to the content of telephone conversations would constitute a violation of the right to communication privacy and is considered a criminal offense under the Turkish Penal Code. According to Supreme Court rulings, employers may only review metadata such as call duration, time, and numbers dialed, while recording employees’ private conversations is deemed an unlawful intrusion.
- Surveillance Cameras
Employers may install surveillance cameras to ensure workplace security. However, employees must be explicitly informed about surveillance activities. Camera recordings should be retained only for security purposes and not kept unnecessarily. Cameras should not be placed in areas where privacy is expected, such as locker rooms or rest areas.
Conclusion: Practical Guidelines for Employers
While employers have the right to monitor communication tools provided to employees, this monitoring must be conducted in a manner that does not infringe on fundamental rights and freedoms. Transparency must be ensured in processing employees’ personal data, data processing activities must have a legitimate purpose, and employees must be informed in advance about these processes. Any interference with communication privacy and personal data protection must be proportionate to the intended objective. In this regard, employers must establish monitoring mechanisms within the legal framework and strike a fair balance between employee rights and workplace requirements.
Pelin Öztürk
Attorney At Law