A court in the Netherlands has ruled that a U.S. company violated a Dutch employee’s human rights by forcing him to keep his webcam on during work-from-home hours, TechCrunch reported. The employee, who was hired by Florida telemarketing company Chetu, was fired for refusing to be monitored “for nine hours a day” by a program that streamed his webcam and shared his screens.
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The company said it fired the employee for “refusal to work” and “insubordination.” However, the employee said he “didn’t feel comfortable” being monitored all day. “It’s an invasion of my privacy and it makes me really uncomfortable. That’s why my camera is not turned on,” he reportedly said in court documents.
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“Camera surveillance for eight hours a day is not permitted in the Netherlands,” the verdict said, adding that it also violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights . The court found that Chetu had unfairly dismissed the employee and must pay a fine of $50,000, along with the employee ’s back wages , legal costs and unused vacation days .
Since Florida is an at-will state, employees can be fired for any reason, as long as it’s not illegal. In the Netherlands and other EU countries, however, you must have a valid reason for firing someone (refusal to perform work, unproductive behavior, etc.) — otherwise, the employee has grounds to challenge.
Information source: engadget.com
