Originally published in June 2002
The legitimacy of the control by the employer over the employees ’activity through IT tools used by the employees in order to carry out their activity, has excited interest in Italy, not only within the political and the trade unionist debate,but also in the public opinion itself. The problem arose because an Italian rule states that the use of audiovisual equipment and other devices to control employees ’ activity at a distance, is forbidden and punished as a criminal violation.
Originally,this rule was created to prevent the employer from controlling employees’ activity by means of video cameras situated at the work places; then, Italian judges extended the scope of this rule also to the use of switchboards, which can record the telephone number and the length of the employees’ calls. In the light of this extensive construction of the Italian rule, companies had the problem if the control over employees’ activity through internet and e-mail
