Does your boss have the right to monitor your Social Media?

The relationship between employers and workers is based on the 'master and servant' relationship, and as a result, the UK laws that govern this relationship have developed to support the employer in monitoring all aspects of work.

However, this faces a fresh tension where the employer seeks to control employee's social media output. For employer's, aside from monitoring work performance and production, there are many legitimate reasons to monitor individual workers' social media. From unlawful or discriminatory Facebook posts to misuse of confidential information, there are many potential legal risks with social media.

Many methods of monitoring and surveillance are now common in the workplace. It is now common for employers to have policies that monitor workers' communications and interactions; telephone calls (usually for training or quality control purposes); emails, particularly 'flagged' words or email address destination; internet use (through blocking or limiting access to certain sites), and cctv surveillance in the workplace.

However, social media output falls into a grey area, as there is no specific law that governs monitoring of employees' social media accounts. This means that, where issues arise, they can crop up in a number of legal areas, from employment law to data protection, health and safety, or commercial law.

Workers' right to privacy

When it comes to workers' rights, two key human rights laws should be kept in mind. First, the right to respect for a private life under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR); and secondly, the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of ECHR.

These laws are important for Unison members, as most will be employed by a public authority, and Human Rights law operates to scrutinise the state's interference with an individual's rights.

Numerous employment law cases have analysed whether interference with rights under Article 8 and 10 ECHR were 'necessary in a democratic society'. The worker's expectation of privacy will be an important consideration for any potential claims, as will be the proportionality of the employer's response to a concern about a worker's communications on social media.

ICO guidance

Monitoring of social media will almost always involve electronic forms of surveillance that possess personal data of workers by the employer as a data controller. This means the role of the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the statutory regulator for data protection law, will be an important factor.

In 2023, ICO published guidance that is intended to assist employers to comply with their obligations under data protection law. It explains what employers' legal obligations are when they monitor the activities of their workers. This guidance will soon be updated, particularly with regard to how new technologies utilise automated decision making and profiling. This is due to new laws introduced by the Data (Access and Use) Act 2025 that came into force on 19 June this year.

Challenging intrusive and unfair practices

Employers should always inform and consult workers and their trade union about the introduction of new policies and new technologies that aim to monitor workers and their social media output. There are specific legal standards that apply where the union is recognised for collective bargaining with the employer.

In practice, Unison workplace representatives and activists will often be asked about how to tackle employers adopting zealous and narrow interpretations of social media policies, which is why Unison has produced bargaining guidance on the topic, titled New technology and artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace.

The divide between private output for social media and a worker's role with their employer, especially where the connection can be easily seen, is sometimes a blurred line that creates difficulties for everyone involved. Clear policies by an employer should manage expectations for Unison members, but the reality of how an employer's procedures are used in practice is always worth scrutinising.

This article is lifted from Unison Activist magazine July/August 2025 and replaces the Branch's own guidance on this topic issued some years ago.