When Can a Detective Legally Monitor Employees?

When Employees Step Out of Line

Employers and employees often pursue different interests. If an employee unlawfully enriches themselves at the expense of the employer or harms the company maliciously – for example, through divulging secrets – the business quickly faces the question of to what extent private investigators may monitor the employee in order to gather evidence for court.

 

Tobias Neumann provides the following overview for clients and interested parties of Kurtz Detective Agency Nuremberg and Franconia.

Which Methods Are Permissible?

To determine whether an employee is, for example, stealing valuable reference books, taking longer breaks than permitted, or maintaining contacts with competitors, the employer may engage a business and private detective agency for discreet observation. The Nuremberg detectives of Kurtz Investigations employ a variety of investigative methods depending on the situation: in consultation with management, they may embed an undercover investigator in the relevant department, monitor the suspect in public areas (for instance, in fieldwork or during sick leave), and, where legally permissible and tactically justified, use technical tools such as video surveillance.

 

Most frequently, the services of Nuremberg business detectives are requested for investigating feigned illnesses, unauthorised secondary employment, false expense and timesheet claims, and internal theft. Engaging a detective allows the company to curb employee misconduct and prevent further damage – but not everything is legally allowed.

Under What Conditions May Employees Be Monitored?

Labour law imposes very strict criteria, with the highest priority given to data protection and the employee’s personal rights. Intervention is only permitted when there is a concrete indication that the employee repeatedly breaches their duties or has committed a crime. A mere suspicion – such as believing a field worker spends time in the garden instead of visiting clients – is insufficient if it is based only on a feeling and cannot be concretely justified.

 

Before a detective may be commissioned to observe an employee, it must be ensured that the suspicion cannot be investigated using milder measures. However, labour law provides few such options, as monitoring methods that do not necessarily involve a detective are often prohibited or heavily restricted for data protection reasons. This includes, for example, secret video surveillance at the workplace or using GPS technology without informing the employee. In many cases, the only viable mild measure is questioning the employee by a supervisor. Yet, as most criminal employees are unlikely to admit wrongdoing, this method rarely succeeds. Consequently, there is often no alternative but to engage investigators such as our private detectives for Würzburg, Bamberg, and the whole of Franconia and Upper Palatinate.

Investing in Quality Pays Off

Employees may hire a labour law attorney if they believe they were unreasonably monitored by a detective engaged by their employer. If an employee challenges their dismissal in court, the company must demonstrate that the detective’s involvement was proportionate and necessary. This is why it is crucial not to hire an amateur investigator with questionable legal knowledge, but to rely on the professionalism of a reputable detective agency.

 

The Nuremberg private detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency are qualified and experienced specialists who can competently and legally advise affected businesses while gathering court-admissible evidence. Anyone wishing to hire a detective should always verify the qualifications and references of the agency or owner in advance.

Author: Tobias Neumann

 

Kurtz Detective Agency Nuremberg

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