Corporate content and filming in the workplace are on the rise, especially with the rise in popularity of videos like ‘A Day in the Life,’ which have become a major trend across social media in recent years. Globally people spend 141 minutes per day on social media, with Gen Z averaging 3.2 hours of daily use. However, an emerging employment challenge isn’t just the amount of time people spend on social media, but what they are filming and where they are capturing content while at work.

Serious issues can arise when videos are being filmed in the workplace and during confidential meetings, raising risks for employers. For example, take an employee attending their six-month probation meeting, who decided to film themself, and capture the audio of their manager and anyone else in the room to share on their social media channels. During the meeting, the employee and manager may discuss colleagues and clients, and without realising it, breach GDPR and client confidentially clauses.

Sally Charlton, Senior HR Business Partner at Gi Group says: “Employers need to protect themselves by identifying this behaviour explicitly in contracts. Filming at work has gone from one-off events to much more frequent incidents. My first piece of advice is to update and amend all employment contracts to clearly state that any filming or content creation not approved by the business is not allowed during work hours or on company property. This addition to contracts should also support any social media and phone policies already in place.”

Updating contracts allows employers to protect themselves by making this behaviour a breach of an employee’s contract. However, this may not be enough to deter employees who may be unaware of client and privacy laws. Therefore, education is another important step.

Sally added: “Training your team on topics such as social media and mobile phone usage and rules is an often-overlooked step. It’s wise for HR teams to guide both new starters and established staff members through the importance of GDPR and data protection laws. If employees don’t understand certain laws and acts they’re duty-bound to uphold, and how these specifically relate to them, they may not realise they’re breaking a law, and their contract. Client confidentially is also at risk during covert work recordings, as accidently sharing client information online can void contracts, damage a business’s reputation and result in legal issues. This is why employee education is such an important step.”

If employers are specifically worried about confidential HR meetings being recorded, Sally advises on how they can get ahead of the issue.

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