Dutch Court Rules that Being Forced to Keep a Webcam on While Working is Illegal
upstart writes:
A US company was fined $50,000 and ordered to pay the employee's wages and vacation days:
Dutch Court: Employees Safe from Bosses' Video SurveillanceA court in the Netherlands has ruled that a US company violated a Dutch worker's human rights by forcing him to keep his webcam on during work hours, TechCrunch has reported. Hired by Florida telemarketing firm Chetu, the employee was terminated for refusing to be monitored "for nine hours per day" by a program that streamed his webcam and shared his screens.
[...] As Florida is an at-will state, employees can be fired for any reason as long as it's not illegal. In the Netherlands and other EU countries, however, you must have a valid motive for firing someone (refusal to perform work, culpable conduct, etc.) - otherwise, the employee has grounds to dispute it.
upstart writes:
Chetu ordered to pay restitution for employee's unlawful termination:
A telephone sales rep in the Netherlands has won an unfair dismissal court case against his former employer, US software company Chetu, after he was fired for refusing to spend his work day surveilled by his computer camera.
In August of 2022, the employee was required to log on during an entire workday while sharing his screen and being monitored by camera and attending an online training program.
"I don't feel comfortable being monitored for nine hours a day by a camera," the un-named defendant is recorded as saying in a court filing. "This is an invasion of my privacy and makes me feel really uncomfortable. That is the reason why my camera is not on. You can already monitor all activities on my laptop and I am sharing my screen," the employee added.
[...] Chetu eventually received the following notification:
Hi [name of applicant], Your employment is hereby terminated. Reason: Refusal to work; Insubordination.
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