Secret audits

[newmoses]

I hope someone with employment knowledge can help me with some legislation.I work for a bus company who use passengers as "secret auditors", to check on the bus drivers to see if they greet the passengers, give them eye contact, give them their ticket and change in their hand, give them a smooth ride, and say goodbye ( or similar) on leaving the bus.The driver is then secretly scored accordingly and the audit is handed into the bus company for the Operation Manageresses perusal.If there are any areas of concern, then the driver is asked into the office to discuss any issues.However, I found out from a long standing employee today that the audits are illegal under the Data Protection Act 1998,as the audits should not be given to anyone else.Further more, it was alleged by the same driver that the European Human rights act applies as well if the secret auditing causes harm, or concern to the driver(s) concerned.Can anyone confirm if these laws do apply to these so called illegal audits? If so, can you give me the link to the necessary section in the relevant laws.Many thanks in advance

[honeybee13]

Hello again.

 

Is this something along the lines of mystery shoppers please? I didn't think that was illegal, although your case could be more complicated.

 

What does your union think? I believe you have one if I remember your previous posts.

 

My best, HB

[honeybee13]

Hello again. I've only had a very quick read around on mystery shoppers, if that's what you've had.

 

Were you advised that the company was planning to carry out this exercise?

 

My best, HB

[RachelMD]

But what do you care?

 

Because you always,

'greet the passengers, give them eye contact, give them their ticket and change in their hand, give them a smooth ride, and say goodbye ( or similar) on leaving the bus'.

 

Right?

 

It's a myth that bus drivers are a shower of utterly miserable people with zero people skills and no capacity for even basic customer service.

 

Isn't it?

[rebel11]

The company needs to maintain Customer Service Standards. Your the public face of the company, how else can they check that you represent them in a favourable manner consistently. It is a good thing. It does keep people on their toes, it improves standards. If the management really wanted to go overboard,

once the report comes through and if it's good then maybe some M & S vouchers.

[Sidewinder]

I would respectfully suggest that your long-standing colleague has been misinformed....

 

Looking firstly at the Data Protection Act, providing that you aware of the employer's use of anonymous auditing to assess performance and the purposes for which such data will be used, then there is no breach. You have agreed, through acceptance of your contract of employment and it's associated T&Cs for data recorded in this way to be passed between the company appointed to gather it, and the employer, for the specific purpose of performance appraisal.

 

Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, gives protection from unwarranted intrusion into private and family life, home and correspondence, however this applies only to Government or a Public Authority, so the first point would be whether your employer (the bus company) is either of these? If not, then you cannot use the HRA as the basis of any complaint. Even where this is the case, and the employer is a Public Authority, then providing that the monitoring is not excessive or overly intrusive, and you are aware of it's use and the purpose for it, then there will be no breach.

 

You do of course have the right under the DPA to request sight of data held in relation to you in a relevant filing system (such as a personnel file) in the event of a complaint about information being incorrect or malicious, but from what you have said, there is no issue with the use of such monitoring in itself.

[Par King]

its only potentially a breach of Human rights, Article 8 your right to privacy, if your employer is a public body subject to meeting 3 things which Ii talk about below. Even if they are a public body they may be able to justify breaching your human right to privacy. To do this, they need to show that

(1) their act was lawful- what does your employment contract and possible policies and procedures say?

(2) that the secret audits serve one of the listed legitimate objectives listed under the law maybe public safety possibly in your case and,

(3) that they way they are going about with their secret audit is a necessary proportionate way of meeting whatever their aim was with having the secret audits in the first place.

 

It's not therefore clear that the secret audits are in fact illegal or as I would like to say unlawful, unless there is nothing in your contract work policies, handbook, or any other law that allows them to do this. If there is nothing the only possible argument you could say is that it is a breach of your employment contract, breach of an implied term of trust and confidence.

 

 

As for breach of data protection, it depends on how the information is gathered and whether or not the information contains personal data: there are complex legal test to decide if information is classed as personal data. You could find out more on the Information Commissioners website.

 

Hope that helps...

[RachelMD]

Well, I look forward to the Applicant winning this one........