From ‘code’ to ‘guidance’: revising the instrument on data and employment

Journal article

In the context of a rapidly changing world of work, an instrument to guide employer data practices is sorely needed – for workers and employers alike. A new instrument could provide much-needed authoritative guidance on the intersection of historically discrete areas of law. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)’s recent announcement that it intends to promulgate new guidance on data protection law in the employment context therefore presents a promising opportunity to secure comprehensive guidance on the novel phenomenon of algorithmic management. The creation of an effective instrument, however, will require consideration of some hard questions which have thus far gone unaddressed in both the literature and the policy debate: the substantive content, structure, legal status, and purpose of the new instrument. The ICO’s current proposals, which would see another piece of isolated guidance being added to a patchwork quilt of quasi-legislation, fail to engage with these deeper questions.

Authors: Adams-Prassl, J; Abraha, H; Kelly-Lyth, A

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Journal: Industrial Law Journal
• Volume: 51
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 744–761
• Publication date: 2022-09-14
• Acceptance date: 2022-07-12
• DOI: 10.1093/indlaw/dwac021
• EISSN: 1464-3669
• ISSN: 0305-9332
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR