The UK government is consulting on whether employers should be legally required to consult workers before introducing "bossware" – software that monitors staff through means such as AI-driven productivity scoring, keystroke logging and biometric surveillance. The Department for Business and Trade wants to know whether existing rules on workplace surveillance remain fit for purpose given the growing use of technology to track employee activity, assess performance and inform decisions affecting working lives, with the government weighing options from voluntary guidance to a legally binding duty to consult trade unions or employee representatives.

The consultation notes that monitoring has become markedly more widespread, with one in three UK organisations now saying they actively track employees' digital activity, up from one in five according to earlier research by the ICO. While ministers acknowledge such technology can boost productivity and investment, they also flag risks including loss of privacy and autonomy, disproportionate surveillance, and biased outcomes from flawed data. The government is also seeking views on how broadly "workplace monitoring technology" should be defined, given it could span CCTV, access control, location tracking and AI-based decision-making systems. The consultation, part of the wider Make Work Pay reforms, runs until 30 September, and experts warn it could add further compliance obligations for employers already navigating GDPR and the EU AI Act.