The Dutch Court rules that employers demanding employees to turn on their webcams violates their human rights. The decision could change how companies deal with employees working from home.

Florida-Based Chetu Company Decided to Hire a Telemarketer in Netherlands

According to Tech Crunch's story, the case started with the Florida-based Chetu hiring a telemarketer in the Netherlands. The company reportedly required the employee to turn on their webcam.

The employee was reportedly unhappy with the decision and did not want to be monitored for what he described as "9 hours per day." The employee had to be monitored through a program that works by streaming his webcam and screen-sharing.

Company Tagged His Actions as Insubordination and Refusal to Work

When he said he did not want to agree to their demands, he was fired per the public court documents regarding the case. The company then tagged his actions as insubordination and refusal to work.

The court, however, disagreed with the company's decision and said that the instructions for employees to keep their webcam on are in direct conflict with "respect for the privacy of the workers."

Employee Shared that They Weren't Comfortable Being Monitored for 9 Hours a Day Through Camera

The verdict resulted in the court even suggesting that demanding webcam surveillance is a violation of human rights. The court documents included a direct quote from the employee saying, "I don't feel comfortable being monitored for 9 hours a day by a camera."

The documents note that the company decided to fire the employee, and although it could have worked in Florida, the home state for Chetu, labor laws are different in other parts of the world. The company was then taken to court by the employee for unfair dismissal.

Court Ruled that the Company had to Pay the Employee for Their Decision to Terminate Him

The court's findings were in favor of the employee, which resulted in the employee's court costs having to be paid, back wages, and even a fine worth $50,000. There was also an order for the company to remove the non-compete clause of the employee.

The court reportedly gave the ruling that the company needs to pay the wages of the employee, their unused vacation days, and even several different costs as well. The court noted that tracking through a camera for 8 days is disproportionate and not permitted in the Netherlands.

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The company was a No Show for the Case Against Them

It was also noted that the monitoring was against the employee's human rights. There was also a quote taken from the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

The quote specifically noted that "video surveillance of an employee in the workplace, be it covert or not, must be considered a considerable intrusion into the employee's private  life." The interesting thing about the case was that the company, Chetu, was a no-show for the case against them.

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Written by Urian B.