Industrial Relations: Australian employers can now spy on workers use of the Internet - provided they warn them

Australian employers will now be permitted to "spy" on workers use of the Internet - provided they have warned them first.

Under the new Workplace Surveillance Act, employers may secretly monitor staff by using tracking devices in work vehicles, installing video cameras or reading emails, as long as they give two weeks' notice or get approval from a magistrate.

If they fail to do so, those who pay staff to actually work, and who pay for the equipment staff use for personal activities, can be fined up to $5,500.

Even employers who use electronic tracking devices to monitor stock or equipment may be unwittingly breaking the law.

But wait - there's more. The act also ensures the right of union members to access union emails and websites from their work computers - a move of course welcomed by the secretary of Unions NSW, John Robertson.

If you don't want your employer to "spy" on your private email and private Internet use - wait till you get home. But of course, Australian workers should not have to endure such barbaric employment conditions. No worker should be forced to cyber shag at home instead of at work. It's Un-Australian.