More and more companies in Switzerland are using monitoring tools: systems to monitor computer use, GPS in company vehicles, cameras on the premises, and access to work emails. And many employees are unsure exactly what is and isn’t allowed.
The legal basis is Article 328b of the Swiss Code of Obligations, reinforced by the new Data Protection Act (LPD, in force since 2023). What it stipulates is clear: your employer may process data about you only if that information relates to your ability to perform your work or if it is necessary for the performance of the employment contract. Beyond that, a separate legal basis is required. And most importantly of all: any monitoring measures must be transparent. The employee must be informed in advance, in clear terms, usually through internal regulations or an IT policy. Covert surveillance is, in principle, illegal, except where there is reasonable suspicion of a serious breach, and subject to very strict conditions.
In practice: if your company has security cameras, you have the right to know where they are. If GPS is used in company vehicles, you have the right to know this. If they wish to check your work emails, the company’s scope for doing so depends on whether or not it permits personal use of the corporate email system. If it does, the employer has very little scope to access those messages without consequences. Continuous monitoring of performance for the purpose of exerting pressure is generally prohibited under the EDOEB, the federal data protection authority.
This does not mean that everything is prohibited. It means that everything must be justified, communicated in advance and proportionate. If this is not the case, the employee can challenge it. It is a balance that many workers in Spain are unaware of because the rules are different, and here, too, it is not explained as a matter of course when you sign your contract.