Personlig integritet för arbetstagare

Sammanfattning: As technology progress the right to personal integrity has been discussed in several areas. One of those areas is labour law and specifically the employee’s right to personal integrity. As communication becomes more and more digital it has become more practical for employers to monitor their employees. The question regarding employees’ right to protection for their personal integrity is, despite its relevance, unregulated in Swedish law and is therefore regulated through legal principles such as the right to manage and organize work. The purpose of this essay is to examine what protection the employees have regarding personal integrity. The purpose is answered first and foremost by identifying applicable law in regard to international commitments, legal rules and principles. The most significant international commitment regarding personal integrity is article 8 of the European convention on human rights. Article 8 consists of, among others, the right to privacy and family life, which includes protection against some of the infringements of personal integrity. By being incorporated in Swedish law and through the European court, the ECHR is of importance not only in international law but also in national Swedish law. The most important legal ground in national law, in regards to the personal integrity of employees, is the right to manage and organize work. The right to manage and organize work must not be exercised in contravention of the law or good labour market practice. To examine what defines good labour market practice one must balance the interests of the employer and the employees. To further examine which interests that needs to be considered, and to examine the significance of these interests, it is necessary to work through and present cases from the Labour Court. These case reports also serve to define relevant applicable law. Some of the important interests for the employer are identified as safety, economy and public relations. In almost all the cases, the interests of the employer where considered more important than personal integrity, as long as the methods for surveillance were suitable. The final purpose of the essay is to examine if the identified protection for personal integrity can be considered sufficient. I do not consider the protection to be sufficient since the legal situation is uncertain, despite the cases presented in the essay. There lies a danger in not having a law targeted on the issue specifically, since the legal situation risks being hard to access and thus lack legal certainty. As the technology progresses the need for protection for the employees’ right to personal integrity increases. My suggestion is therefore that a new law, which codifies the legal position and gather the relevant laws, is introduced. Not just for clarity but also to advance the position of the employees.