Swedish managers report more digital monitoring than staff

Nearly two-thirds of managers in a Swedish research project say they monitor employees digitally, compared with 40% of employees who say monitoring takes place.

The contrast comes from an ongoing Linköping University study involving 3,000 managers and employees, TV4 reported on Friday. Researcher Daniel Lundqvist put the managers’ figure at 63–65%.

The figures describe different groups’ answers. They do not establish how many individual workers are monitored without knowing it, or how much monitoring is unlawful.

The university’s WATCH project examines digital monitoring among managers and white-collar employees in Sweden, using questionnaires and interviews to explore working conditions and health.

Sweden’s privacy authority, IMY, says employers need a lawful basis for processing employees’ personal data. Monitoring must be necessary and proportionate, and employers must consider less intrusive alternatives.

Employees must receive information about checks no later than when their data are collected. IMY’s guidance says routinely monitoring how staff perform tasks or take breaks in real time is generally not permitted. An employee’s consent does not ordinarily solve the problem because of their dependence on the employer.

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