In the UK, audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has told its 26,000 employees that from now on, “ Data related to their place of work » It will be shared with the employer, identifying the actual geographic location of the remote work site. Objective: If an employee works remotely a lot, they will now have to justify themselves to their bosses. Other British companies have put in place systems to monitor days spent in person. Are these devices legal in France?
In principle, the employer has the right to control the professional work tools (computers, telephones, etc.) of his employees. It may also restrict access to the Internet, in order to reduce the risk of abuse resulting from excessive personal use of its working tools, as stated in National Committee for Information Technology and Freedoms (Cnil). So for example ” By default, Emails are professional in nature. The employer can read it, and it can also read the locations it consulted, including outside the employee's presence. “, recalls the CNIL. But Professor Mylene Haji, labor law lawyer, confirms Thanks for the information: “The geolocation of employees by the employer is not prohibited in France, but the system applied must be justified and proportionate.” She cites the example of the Court of Cassation ruling issued in March 2024, which ruled that “ The use of geolocation to ensure control over working hours is only legal when such control cannot be carried out by other means, even if less effective, and is not justified when the employee has the freedom to organize his work. »
Thus, Maitre Haji explains, taking the example of PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK: “ It is therefore likely that a computer geolocation system to control whether an employee is working at company headquarters or if he or she is working remotely, such as the one created by PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK, will French judges consider it disproportionate. »
Does the employer have access to professional tools for its employees?
However, the employee has the right to send emails or personal messages using his professional tools. To do this, he must stamp it very clearly “private” or “personal”, in the subject of an email, for example, or store it on a hard drive titled in the same way. Ruling from the Court of Cassation Prohibits the possibility of an employer opening files that an employee identifies as personal Without the presence of the aforementioned employee.
Regarding geolocation of work tools (computers and smartphones, for example), the employer has the right to do so, but only as a last resort, and geolocation must be justified by the nature of the activity and used as a last resort. . However, an employer cannot determine an employee's geographic location outside of his or her working hours, during the trip home if they are not paid. And of course, The employee must be informed.
What controllers are officially banned?
The CNIL remembers that too Controllers are strictly prohibited : “keyloggers”, for example, which allow all computer movements to be remotely recorded, especially mouse movements and those made on the keyboard. CNIL declared ” This surveillance system causes excessive harm to the private lives of the employees concerned, which makes it illegal », continues Professor Haji. ” It also recently considered the monitoring system that Amazon established in its warehouses to be “excessively intrusive,” as it records data on every package scan carried out by employees, allowing it to see quality, productivity, and production periods. Inactivity of each employee individually.
An employer also cannot obtain a copy of all communications received or written by its employees; Likewise, the CNIL states that contact logs cannot be kept for more than 6 months. As far as passwords go, this is it Trusted It cannot be communicated to the employer, except in the absence of the employee, if he has information essential for the proper continuation of the company's activities. The employer can obtain his passwords if the network administrator cannot provide them.
Telephone recordings and computer controls: what are the limits?
Regarding screen recording and listening to phone conversations, Sinil Warns that the screenshot ” Probably not Neither relevant nor proportional Because it is a frozen image of an employee's isolated work, it does not accurately reflect his work She also opposes the practice of recording telephone conversations. Mylene Haji specifies: “ Listening and/or recording employee conversations may constitute a violation of employee rights, so it must be justified and proportionate to the objective sought. This is especially the case when they:
- It is intended to evaluate employees for whom the telephone is the main working tool (for example, telecommunications operators or switchboard operators);
- Used for the purposes of training employees in specific sectors (banks, insurance companies or reservation services for transport companies, etc.);
- It is carried out by some companies that operate mainly by telephone, for the purposes of substantiating a commercial order placed by a customer or a service provided to him.
In all cases, it is not permissible to eavesdrop or permanently record conversations, unless this is imposed by specific legislation or regulations. »
Regarding the recording of telephone conversations, combined with the recording of a computer screen, the CNIL states that: Screen video recording makes it possible to follow the actions of an employee at his or her workstation without interruption. Unlike a screenshot, this is a movie that can reflect an employee's actions more accurately According to the Committee, such a registration could be “ Proportionate when used for the sole purpose of training employees In other words, it should only be available to an employee who needs remote training on specific tools. Strict conditions must be met: recording must only take place during the call; only the application window(s) that relate to the training can be registered; authorized persons can Only access to these recordings and in all cases the employee must be informed of these recording or monitoring devices.
The law is therefore complex, but it exists, and employees must be informed of it. However, if the employer does not respect his obligations (and prohibitions), Mylene Haci explains the procedure that must be followed: “ File a complaint with the CNIL ; Contact the labor inspectorate; Alerting the Social and Economic Committee of your company so that the right to alert is activated; Take legal action. »
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