body cam usage by management

[newmoses]

In my field of work,I use a bodycam, as do the staff.One colleague was called into the office and asked why she was smoking on duty.She was also asked why she sat down and turned her bodycam off for 10 minutes.

 

 I know there is no legislation for bodycams, and only as guideline for how police officers use them.Therefore, can the manager demand the bodycams are on all through our shift? And can the manager trawl through the footage from previous days?.

 

 The bodycams are there for the protection and safety of the staff but it seems the manager is using them to spy on the staff/Is this legal?.

 

[dx100uk]

mores the point,

do their conditions of work state employees must not smoke on Co. grounds and/or whilst on co. paid duty??

the former they can enforce, the latter, i seriously doubt it as they don't own said land ??

 

gdpr also applies here.

 

dx

 

 

[Ethel Street]

As you describe it body cams are just a form of PPE and in general an employer can insist PPE is in use throughout an employee's shift.  That requirement needs to be clearly stated somewhere though, so that you know you must not turn off your body cam.

 

Are you in a union? If so ask them for advice.

[whitelist]

One of the obvious situations where you cannot be contracted to have the body camera on throughout your shift is with toilet facilities.

Another example is on your designated meal relief, which I assume is unpaid. 

[Manxman in exile]

12 hours ago, newmoses said:

... Therefore, can the manager demand the bodycams are on all through our shift? And can the manager trawl through the footage from previous days?.

 

 The bodycams are there for the protection and safety of the staff but it seems the manager is using them to spy on the staff/Is this legal?.

 

 

I suspect the bodycams are there for the legal protection of your employer just as much as for your protection and safety.

 

I don't know what job you do but I can envisage some jobs (eg bouncer, security staff) where your employer - and you - might heve to rely on uninterrupted footage for legal defence reasons.  (eg you are a bouncer and you and your employer are being sued because you allegedly assaulted someone.).

 

Obviously there are good reasons for switching it off (see @whitelist's post) but if your employer requires you to wear a bodycam then I think it would be a good idea to clarify exactly what your employer requires and exaxtly when you can and cannot turn it off.  (And if you are in a union - which I hope you are - ask for their input too).

[newmoses]

I am a Traffic Warden of 3.5 years.

The person in question was walking her beat when she decided to have a "crafty fag", whilst walking to the next car park.

She also turned her body cam off, and sat down for 10 minutes, presumably while she had a cigarette.

 

She was called into the managers office and disciplined for smoking on duty, turning her bodycam off, and sitting down for 10 minutes.

 

She seems to think she is being targeted, and is wondering if the manager has broken any laws.

 

I doubt he has, but then I am not legally qualified to make that decision.

 

the company do not have a union, although I am in Unite.

[dx100uk]

private or council?

 

 

[Ethel Street]

8 hours ago, newmoses said:

She was called into the managers office and disciplined for smoking on duty, turning her bodycam off, and sitting down for 10 minutes.

 

TBH they seem like reasonable grounds for disciplinary action. Presumably she was in uniform at the time. and it wasn't an official rest break. I'm not legally qualified either but I think it is reasonable for the management to use bodycam evidence  in relation to misnduct allegations when on duty. Is there a rule in your contract/employee handbook that says you mustn't smoke on duty, or while in uniform in public, or something like that?

 

To be more accurate, they didn't use bodycam evidence to discipline her for smoking while on duty because she had turned her bodycam off while smoking! She presumably admitted she had been smoking while on duty when asked why the bodycam had been turned off. In which case that was the evidence used to discipline her, her own admission of smoking, not bodycam evidence.