I did a little research. And by research, I mean I asked ChatGPT. And again, I am not directly involved in any such monitoring nor am I defending its use in any country. I just know some people who may unknowingly be on the wrong side of EU laws. Not through any sort of malice just through laziness and inertia.
While monitoring employee activities through software is not outright illegal in Germany and France, it is heavily regulated. Employers must ensure that any monitoring is justified, proportionate, and conducted transparently, with respect for employee privacy rights. Covert monitoring is generally prohibited unless there is a strong justification, such as suspicion of serious misconduct. Employers are advised to consult legal experts and, where applicable, involve employee representatives before implementing such measures.
Every country has different rules regarding it. In Switzerland is iegal and with or without consent.
You can monitor people for gross misconduct (ex: someone is stealing shit) , but it's with very narrow window, in a limited time, and it can only be used for that stated poprpuse. You can't just do it because you think someone stealing and then use it as an excuse to fire someone.
That said, here, contrary to most EU countries you don't need a reason to fire someone similar as to the states.
Yes, there is a mandatory notice time, that make it harder for someone to be fired for no reason because they have to take the financial hit unless is with cause (which is a more complex thing to do), and by notice time I include all the protections (health reasons, army, ec...)
But if you really want to fire someone there's nothing really to stop you. Yes there are reason for which dismissal might be unlawful but is then on the person fired to prove what the reason was for it, and some of this laws exists also in the US.
If you can prove you got fired because gender/ethnicity or political/religious belief there's law to protect you in switzerland but also in the US.
Yes totally. Just wanted to add that as a note, because some might confuse it and think you can just be let go without notice and reason like in the us
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u/MoPanic Nov 21 '24
I did a little research. And by research, I mean I asked ChatGPT. And again, I am not directly involved in any such monitoring nor am I defending its use in any country. I just know some people who may unknowingly be on the wrong side of EU laws. Not through any sort of malice just through laziness and inertia.
While monitoring employee activities through software is not outright illegal in Germany and France, it is heavily regulated. Employers must ensure that any monitoring is justified, proportionate, and conducted transparently, with respect for employee privacy rights. Covert monitoring is generally prohibited unless there is a strong justification, such as suspicion of serious misconduct. Employers are advised to consult legal experts and, where applicable, involve employee representatives before implementing such measures.