The court ruled in a decision issued last week that these were insufficient grounds for dismissing the employee. The court’s decision states, “There has been no evidence of a refusal to work” (via Google Translate). It went on to say that the “instruction to leave the camera on is contrary to the employee’s right to privacy” and that the dismissal was illegal.
The court specifically cites Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which states that citizens have the “right to respect for private and family life.” Chetu contended that requiring an employee to leave their webcam on is no different than allowing management to see them while they work in a traditional office. However, the court stated that “strict conditions are attached to observing employees,” and that in this case, asking an employee to leave their camera on was an unjustified intrusion.
