The UK’s Trade Union Congress (TUC) is calling for stronger regulation of workplace monitoring technologies, warning that poorly managed surveillance can undermine worker wellbeing, increase workplace stress and erode trust between employees and employers.
Whilst this debate is taking place in the UK, the issues are relevant to Victorian workers as employers everywhere increasingly use digital systems to monitor performance, allocate tasks and measure productivity.
Workplace monitoring technologies can include GPS tracking, wearable devices, computer activity monitoring, automated performance assessments and algorithms that determine workloads or work pace. While these technologies can support legitimate business and safety objectives, their implementation can also create risks if workers are not consulted or their health and safety is overlooked.
Monitoring systems that set demanding targets, track every movement or penalise workers for slowing down can encourage unsafe work practices. Workers can feel pressured to skip breaks, rush tasks or continue working despite fatigue, pain or other signs that they need to stop.
Constant surveillance may also contribute to psychological stress, reduce workers’ sense of control and discourage them from reporting hazards, mistakes or near misses if they fear being penalised. In safety-critical work, these pressures could affect concentration, decision-making and the likelihood of injury.
In its response to the UK government’s consultation under the Plan to Make Work Pay, the TUC argues that workers should have a meaningful say in decisions about monitoring technology. It favours legally enforceable requirements for transparency, consultation and accountability, supported by a statutory code of practice.
The union points to evidence of limited worker involvement in technology decisions - a 2026 survey by the UK Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers found 85% of respondents had not been consulted about new technology or could not identify whether meaningful consultation had taken place, and more than 75% reported inadequate training around new technology.
The TUC argues that stronger regulation would not prevent beneficial uses of technology, including monitoring systems that help identify hazards or improve safety. Instead, meaningful worker consultation could help employers identify unintended risks before systems are introduced and ensure workers receive appropriate information and training.
The union also calls for a prohibition on opaque, algorithmically adjusted pay-setting systems, warning that technology should not be used to undermine fair employment conditions.
For Victorian workers, the central issue is whether technology helps make work safer or simply increases pressure to perform. Under Victoria’s OHS Act, employers must, so far as is reasonably practicable, provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risks to health. This includes managing relevant psychological health risks, not just physical hazards.
Regardless of jurisdiction, the message is clear: introducing new technology must involve more than assessing its productivity benefits. Employers need to consider its effects on workload, fatigue, stress, worker autonomy and safe work practices – and the best way to ensure technological change improves working conditions rather than creating new risks is by consulting with workers and their HSRs.
OHS Reps has useful tools to help HSRs in consulting on the use of workplace monitoring technologies and the management of psychological hazards that may arise from their use:
· Digital Work Systems Tool - OHS Reps
· Prevention Plan for Psychosocial Hazards - OHS Reps
Read more: TUC response to consultation | Make Work Pay: workplace monitoring technologies