Dutch court rules that being forced to keep a webcam on while working is illegal

A courtroom within the Netherlands has dominated {that a} US firm violated a Dutch employee’s human rights by forcing him to maintain his webcam on throughout work hours, TechCrunch has reported. Employed by Florida telemarketing agency Chetu, the worker was terminated for refusing to be monitored “for 9 hours per day” by a program that streamed his webcam and shared his screens. 

The corporate stated it fired the employee for “refusal to work” and “insubordination.” Nonetheless, the worker said that he “did not really feel comfy” being monitored all day. “That is an invasion of my privateness and makes me really feel actually uncomfortable. That’s the reason why my digital camera isn’t on,” he is quoted as saying within the courtroom paperwork. (Chetu failed to point out up for the courtroom listening to.) 

“Monitoring through digital camera for eight hours per day is disproportionate and never permitted within the Netherlands,” the decision states, including that it additionally violated Article 8 of the European Conference on Human Rights. The courtroom discovered that Chetu dismissed the worker unfairly and should pay a $50,000 advantageous, together with the employee’s again wages, courtroom prices, and unused trip days. It was additionally required to take away a non-compete clause.

As Florida is an at-will state, workers may be fired for any cause so long as it isn’t unlawful. Within the Netherlands and different EU international locations, nevertheless, you will need to have a legitimate motive for firing somebody (refusal to carry out work, culpable conduct, and so on.) — in any other case, the worker has grounds to dispute it.