The Right to Privacy in Employment ─ A Comparative Analysis

At the beginning of the twenty-first century the term 'privacy' gained new prominence around the world, but in the legal arena it is still a concept in 'disarray'. Enclosing it within legal frameworks seems to be a particularly difficult task in employment context, where encroachments upon privacy are not only potentially more frequent, but also, and most importantly, qualitatively different than those taking place in other areas of modern society. This book suggests that these problems can only be addressed by development of a holistic approach to its protection ie an approach that addresses the issue of not only contemporary regulation but also the conceptualization, adjudication, and common (public) perception of employees' privacy. The book draws on a comprehensive analysis of the conceptual as well as regulatory convergences and divergences between European, American and Canadian models of privacy protection, to reconsider the conceptual and normative foundations of the contemporary paradigm of employees' privacy and to elucidate the pillars of a holistic approach to the protection of right to privacy in employment.

Marta Otto holds a PhD degree from the Department of Law of the European University Institute (Florence, Italy). She is a former scholar of the International Society for Labour Law and Social Security Law, COMPTRASEC (Centre de droit compare du travail et de la securite sociale), and CRiMT (Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur la mondialisation et le travail). Currently, she works as an Assistant Professor for Social Security Law and Social Policy, at the Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Lodz, Poland.