UK weighs worker consultation rules for bossware

The UK government is considering requiring employers in Great Britain to consult workers before installing workplace monitoring software, including AI systems that score productivity, keystroke trackers and biometric surveillance tools.

The Department for Business and Trade is reviewing whether existing rules still fit technology that records employee activity, evaluates performance and supports decisions affecting working lives. Ministers have not chosen a final approach. The consultation asks whether employers should receive only non-statutory guidance, follow a statutory code of practice, or face a legal duty to consult recognized trade unions or elected employee representatives before deploying workplace monitoring technology (WMT).

What the proposed rules could cover

The government is considering a broad definition of WMT. It could include:

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• CCTV and access-control systems
• Biometric technologies
• Location tracking
• Keystroke monitoring
• Productivity and performance software
• Systems using automated decision-making or AI

That scope could make the definition relevant far beyond so-called “bossware.” The consultation asks whether the proposed definition is too broad, too narrow or appropriate, recognizing that deciding which systems qualify may be as difficult as setting the obligations attached to them.

The technology can work in several ways: tracking digital activity, generating productivity scores, monitoring keystrokes or locations, and using algorithmic systems to support management decisions. The consultation specifically raises concerns about transparency and accountability when those systems automate or influence decisions about workers.

Privacy, bias and employer compliance

The government says monitoring technology can support productivity, investment and economic growth when used properly. It also warns of “risks to privacy and autonomy,” “disproportionate or unnecessary surveillance,” and “biased or unfair outcomes” when systems rely on incomplete or inaccurate data.

Research cited in the consultation found that one in three UK organizations actively monitored employees' digital activity. That is up from one in five employers in research by the Information Commissioner’s Office two years earlier.

The proposals form part of the government’s wider Make Work Pay reforms. The consultation closes on September 30, but the government has not said whether it will introduce a statutory consultation requirement or when any resulting rules would take effect.

“A further layer of oversight”

Lees said a statutory duty would add another compliance requirement for employers already managing GDPR, local employment laws and the EU AI Act. In practice, deploying an AI-powered workforce optimization system could become an HR and employee-relations process as well as an IT rollout. The immediate change is not a new ban on monitoring, but a possible requirement to involve workers before employers introduce it.