Big Brother Or Big Boss? (August 2016)

Employers must be careful not to believe everything they read in the press. Media reports on a recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights could lead employers to believe they have virtually unlimited powers to monitor private emails of their employees. Whilst this is not true, the case has highlighted the need for employers to understand the correct legal position, and provides an opportunity for employers to check they have the appropriate systems in place to meet their business needs.

Mr Barbulescu was employed as an engineer in charge of sales for a company based in Bucharest. His employer asked him to create a Yahoo Messenger account for the purpose of answering enquiries received from clients. Some three years into his employment, he was informed that the company had been monitoring his Yahoo Messenger usage during the previous week. Mr Barbulescu stated, in writing, that he had only used the account for professional purposes. In response, the company