Amsterdam, the Netherlands
A software company in the United States violated a Dutch worker's human rights by forcing the remote employee to keep his webcam on during work hours, a court in the Netherlands has ruled.
The Florida-based telemarketing company Chetu fired the employee who refused to be monitored "for nine hours per day", a programme that needed his webcam to be streamed and also sharing of the screens, reported TechCrunch.
Chetu said that the firing was done because of the "refusal to work" and "insubordination", but the worker said otherwise. He reportedly said the fact that he was being monitored all day made him uncomfortable, and he thought it was an invasion of privacy.
As quoted by the court documents, he said: "This is an invasion of my privacy and makes me feel really uncomfortable. That is the reason why my camera is not on." The report also stated that Chetu did not go to the court hearing.
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What did the verdict say?
The verdict mentioned that "tracking via camera for eight hours per day is disproportionate and not permitted in the Netherlands." The court also said that it violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
After finding that the firing of the employee was unfair, the court also asked the company to pay a $50,000 fine, in addition to the worker's back wages, court costs, and unused vacation days.
This report leads to one question, should bosses ask to keep the webcam on if employees are working from home?
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