Bosses warned over worker contact

LONDON, England -- Employers in the UK who telephone their staff at home to talk about work matters could face legal action under European human rights legislation.

Managers who phone employees at home risk being sued unless it is specifically laid out in their contract, the UK's Institute of Management has warned.

In an advice leaflet to its 89,000 members, the IM said that calls made to an employee at home could be construed as an invasion of privacy.

The advice follows the introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 -- the British version of long-standing EU legislation -- which became law in October last year.

The Human Rights Act, established by the European Union and incorporated into UK law, allows British citizens to go directly to UK courts to ensure that their basic human rights are being met.

Previously, they had to go through the much longer process of taking complaints to the European Court of Human Rights to seek redress.

Article Eight of the Act states: "Everyone has the right to respect for their private and family life, their home and their correspondence."

The IM leaflet said: "An employer does not have the right to demand an employee's telephone number, unless it is specified in the contract that the employee has a duty to be available outside normal working hours.

"Even when an employee has indicated a willingness to be called at home, managers should respect privacy and not make unnecessary or inappropriate calls."

Guidelines say that employees are under no obligation to divulge their addresses except for pay slips and other routine correspondence.

The leaflet even warns that unauthorised monitoring of telephone calls and e-mails could also be an invasion of privacy even if the individual is thought to be using them for personal matters.

Mary Chapman, director general of IM, said the strength of the Act would only become clear once cases were brought.

A spokeswoman for the Trades Union Congress said it welcomed the warning from IM.

But, she told the Press Association: "We also think that it is important that employers respect employees' rights to privacy in the workplace as well as at home."

A spokesman for the Confederation of British Industry said: "Of course employees' privacy should be respected. But sometimes the needs of businesses must take precedence although the CBI doesn't encourage the excessive contact out of hours of employees."