Can My Employer Track Me Working From Home? WFH Surveillance Rights

Let's get the uncomfortable truth out of the way: yes, your employer can monitor you while you work from home. But they can't do whatever they want. There are legal rules about what's allowed, and the most important one is notice.

Employee monitoring software — the kind that takes screenshots of your screen, logs your keystrokes, tracks which apps you're using, and measures your "active time" — is used by more employers than you'd think. Products like Hubstaff, Time Doctor, ActivTrak, and Teramind are all over corporate Australia.

The key legal principle: employers generally can monitor work devices and work activities, but they must tell you they're doing it. Secret surveillance is where things get legally dodgy.

The rules vary by state, with NSW having the most detailed legislation. But across the board, the principle of informed consent or at minimum prior notice applies. If your employer is monitoring you and hasn't told you, they're likely breaking the law.

When proper notice has been given, employers can legally use a range of monitoring tools on company-owned devices:

• Keystroke logging — recording every key you press. Yes, including passwords you type into personal sites (which is why you should never log into personal accounts on a work device)
• Screenshot capture — taking periodic screenshots of your screen (some software does this every 5-10 minutes)
• Application and website tracking — monitoring which programs you use, which websites you visit, and for how long
• Email monitoring — reading your work emails (remember, they own the email account)
• Mouse and keyboard activity — tracking whether you're "active" or "idle" based on input
• GPS and location tracking — if you're using a work phone or laptop with location services enabled
• Webcam access — some software can take webcam photos, though this is less common and more legally contentious

All of this is legal when done on company devices with proper notice. The notice requirement means your employer should have told you — in writing, through a policy, in your contract, or via a specific notification — what monitoring is in place before it started.

New South Wales has the most detailed workplace surveillance legislation in the country — the Workplace Surveillance Act 2005. It's worth understanding even if you're not in NSW, because other states often look to it as a benchmark.

Under the NSW Act:

• Computer surveillance (monitoring email, internet, software) requires 14 days' written notice before it starts
• The notice must specify what kind of surveillance, how it will be carried out, and when it will start
• Covert surveillance (without the employee knowing) is only allowed with a covert surveillance authority from a magistrate — and only to investigate suspected unlawful activity
• Surveillance of employees outside of work hours is generally prohibited unless it's directly connected to work duties

Other states don't have equivalent standalone legislation, but the Privacy Act 1988 and general workplace health and safety obligations provide some baseline protections. In Victoria, the Surveillance Devices Act 1999 covers some ground. In Queensland, the Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 addresses listening devices but is less comprehensive on computer surveillance.

The gap in the law is real. Outside NSW, the protections around workplace computer monitoring are patchy. Federal privacy reform has been discussed for years but hasn't materialised into specific employee surveillance legislation yet.

If you've heard of mouse jigglers — small USB devices or software programs that simulate mouse movement to keep your computer "active" — it's because employee monitoring has created a market for countermeasures.

People use them because monitoring software often tracks "active time" vs "idle time," and going idle for more than a few minutes can flag you as unproductive. So if you step away to make a coffee, put on a load of washing, or just think about a problem without touching your keyboard, the software marks you as idle. Mouse jigglers keep the cursor moving so you appear active.

Should you use one? That's a decision you need to make carefully:

• If your employer has a policy against them: Using one could be treated as insubordination or dishonesty. Some employers have specifically banned them, and getting caught could justify disciplinary action
• If your employer finds out: It undermines trust. Even if it's not explicitly banned, using a device to defeat monitoring software looks deceptive
• USB devices on company hardware: Many IT departments can detect unauthorised USB devices. Software jigglers might also be flagged by security software

The better approach, if your employer's monitoring is creating unreasonable pressure, is to address it directly. If you're being measured by minutes of mouse activity rather than actual output, that's a management failure — and it's worth raising. Plenty of knowledge work involves thinking, reading, and planning that doesn't involve constant keyboard activity.

Here's what the research consistently shows: heavy employee monitoring reduces productivity, increases stress, and drives good people to quit. A 2023 study by the University of Melbourne found that employees who felt excessively monitored while working from home reported higher anxiety, lower job satisfaction, and — ironically — got less done.

If your employer is using keystroke logging and screenshot software rather than measuring your actual output, that tells you something about their management culture. The best employers focus on outcomes — did you deliver what you were supposed to? — not on whether your mouse moved every 3.5 minutes.

That said, employers do have legitimate interests in monitoring. They need to protect confidential data, ensure compliance with regulations, and yes, make sure people are actually working. The issue isn't monitoring itself — it's disproportionate monitoring.

If your employer's approach to WFH monitoring feels reasonable (basic activity tracking, regular check-ins, output-based assessment), that's probably within the bounds of what most people would accept. If it feels like surveillance for surveillance's sake — constant screenshots, webcam monitoring, tracking your every keystroke — that's a different conversation.

If you suspect your employer is monitoring you and they haven't told you, here's your game plan:

Step 1: Check your employment contract and any IT/acceptable use policies. Many employers bury monitoring clauses in the IT policy you signed on your first day. If it's in there, they've given notice (even if you didn't read it closely). That's legal.

Step 2: Ask directly. Send an email to your manager or IT department: "Can you confirm what monitoring software is installed on my work device and what data is being collected?" Under privacy principles, they should be transparent about this.

Step 3: If they haven't given notice (especially in NSW): This is a breach of the Workplace Surveillance Act. You can raise it with your employer, contact the NSW Information and Privacy Commission, or seek legal advice.

Step 4: If monitoring is affecting your health: Excessive surveillance can contribute to workplace stress and anxiety, which is a work health and safety issue. Raise it through your WHS channels. If your employer's monitoring practices are creating a psychologically unsafe work environment, that's their problem to fix.

Step 5: Protect your personal information. Don't use work devices for personal activities. Don't log into personal accounts on work computers. Keep your work and personal digital lives completely separate.

Use our employment rights checker to get a broader picture of your workplace rights, including privacy protections that apply to your situation.