Technological developments have profoundly transformed the modern workplace, introducing surveillance systems and monitoring technologies that, while enhancing operational efficiency and workplace security, also raise significant concerns regarding the protection of employees’ privacy.

Striking the right balance between an employer’s right to monitor business activities and employees’ fundamental privacy rights has become one of the most challenging issues in contemporary employment law.

The legal framework governing remote monitoring is primarily set out in Article 4 of the Italian Workers’ Statute, a cornerstone provision that must now be interpreted in conjunction with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the broader rules governing the processing and protection of personal data.

Italian legislation draws a clear distinction between audiovisual systems intended to monitor employees and tools used for work purposes or for recording access to company premises. Surveillance cameras fall within the first category whenever they are capable of monitoring employees’ work performance, even indirectly.

In such circumstances, cameras may be installed only where justified by organisational or production needs, workplace health and safety requirements, or the protection of company assets. Their installation, however, requires either a collective agreement with the company trade union representatives (RSU/RSA) or, where no such agreement is reached, prior authorisation from the competent Territorial Labour Inspectorate.

Paragraph 3 of Article 4 provides that data collected through these systems may be used for purposes connected with the employment relationship—including disciplinary proceedings—only where employees have been properly informed in advance and the processing complies with the GDPR principles of transparency, data minimisation, proportionality and security. Furthermore, such use must not be expressly prohibited by collective bargaining agreements, internal policies or company regulations.

A recent judgment of the Italian Supreme Court (Court of Cassation), issued on 24 November 2025, addressed a particularly significant case involving the disciplinary dismissal of a casino croupier based on CCTV footage allegedly showing the employee misappropriating two €100 banknotes during currency exchange operations.

The Supreme Court held the dismissal to be unlawful, ruling that the video recordings could not be relied upon for disciplinary purposes. The Court’s decision was based on the fact that the administrative authorisation, together with the applicable collective agreements, expressly limited the use of the surveillance system to the protection of company assets against unlawful acts committed by third parties, while excluding its use for disciplinary proceedings against employees.

This decision highlights an important practical principle: the same surveillance technology may be lawful in principle but become unusable in practice where the relevant authorisation, collective agreement or internal arrangements restrict its permitted purposes or conditions of use.

Commitments undertaken by the employer through collective bargaining agreements, internal policies or corporate regulations are legally binding and may render a disciplinary measure unlawful even where all other procedural requirements have been formally satisfied.

In conclusion, achieving the appropriate balance between organisational efficiency and the protection of employees’ rights requires not only strict compliance with the applicable legal framework but also consistency between the declared purposes of monitoring systems and their actual use. Once again, the judgment underlines the importance of assessing every aspect of a company’s organisational structure from a holistic perspective, taking into account the potential implications that business decisions may have for the management of human resources.