Young workers and black employees most likely to have workplace monitored

A NEW REPORT WARNS PRIVACY RIGHTS ARE POTENTIALLY BEING BREACHED, SUGGESTING AN URGENT NEED FOR LEGAL REFORM SO WORKERS CAN HAVE A SAY OVER HOW THEY ARE MONITORED PARUL SHARMA GAU audience

writer and AINE FOX PA SOCIAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT 08:00, 05 Jun 2025Updated 09:33, 05 Jun 2025 A report has revealed that young individuals entering the job market and black employees are

among those most likely to be subjected to workplace surveillance. According to a think tank, shop floor staff, warehouse workers, delivery drivers, call centre employees, and those working

from home are all at significant risk of having their calls recorded, emails scrutinised, and potentially being watched via cameras or laptop webcams. The Institute for Public Policy

Research (IPPR) has highlighted an urgent need for legal reform. This new reform seeks to allow workers to have input on how they are monitored and managed both in the workplace and when

working remotely, amid warnings that privacy rights could be violated. The IPPR's research indicated that those in low-skilled roles, such as roles where employee retention may not be

deemed as crucial, jobs with low autonomy and diminished levels of trust, along with non-unionised workers, are most likely to be under surveillance at work. READ MORE: 'We’re

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Young workers aged between 16 and 29 were identified as being at high risk. Black employees were also found to be likely targets of surveillance, due to high rates of low autonomy and

lower-skilled work, despite higher levels of union representation. Article continues below In the private sector, men were discovered to be at a greater risk of surveillance across all three

risk factor measures. The IPPR is urging the Government to enact new legislation that provides individuals with "a genuine voice over how they are monitored at work". This would

involve new legal rights to consultation, akin to redundancy law, and increased transparency requirements. These would mandate employers to disclose what data is being collected, why, and

how it will be utilised. Joseph Evans, an IPPR researcher and co-author of the report, noted that while technology has "evolved really rapidly", legislation has failed to keep pace

with these changes. He said: "At the moment many of these practices are not illegal but what we don't have is a mechanism to control them where surveillance does tip over into

potential breaches of privacy or freedom of expression and association in the workplace." He highlighted that surveillance can have "quite negative impacts on people in terms of

their health and stress and anxiety". Artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionised surveillance, he continued, providing employers with even deeper insights into their employees.

Evans stated: "Surveillance and algorithmic management are very linked. Often surveillance packages are single software packages which both collect data and then use it to make

recommendations to employers, and algorithmic management itself is being innovated and rapidly transformed by AI which can create much more sophisticated insights." Increasing

surveillance levels imposed on certain employees might "deepen the inequalities already baked into the labour market" warned Evans, highlighting that black workers are more prone

to being in roles vulnerable to "intrusive surveillance". Productivity could take a hit as well. Evans cautioned: "If surveillance has a chilling effect on people's

willingness to express themselves in the workplace, that may also decrease their satisfaction at work." He urged that the proposed Employment Rights Bill should introduce substantial

new rights to negotiate and consult on workplace surveillance. Moreover, adapting laws like the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act would provide a new way for workers to challenge the

extent of surveillance. He said: "Implicit in the right to negotiate is that it would give workers the right to challenge if they felt it (surveillance) was excessive or unfair."

IPPR's report utilised data from the 2023 Institute for Social and Economic Research's UK Household Longitudinal Survey. Article continues below A Department for Business and Trade

spokesperson said: "Our plan to Make Work Pay aims to ensure workers' rights keep pace with technological change so that workers' voices are at the heart of Britain's

digital transition." They further added: "This includes safeguarding against invasion of privacy and discrimination by algorithms."