AMP: no cameras on staff working from home

Chief executive Alexis George has given a commitment that surveillance of employees will not occur, an ‘embarrassing’ 11th hour concession the union says shows ‘AMP got it wrong’.

AMP CEO Alexis George says employees won't be recorded via video when working from home. Picture: Britta Campion/istock

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AMP chief executive Alexis George has given an unequivocal commitment that camera surveillance of employees will not occur when they are working from home, and sought to address concerns about contentious clauses in a proposed employment contract, just days after the company dismissed criticism.

The Finance Sector Union said Ms George’s letter to staff on Monday was an “embarrassing admission that AMP got it wrong”, and workplace law ­expert Andrew Stewart said the company was not offering to amend the contract’s problematic provisions but “confirming that at least some of those provisions do mean what they appear to say”.

Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt last week accused AMP of an “outrageous abuse of power” as The Australian revealed staff could be prevented from being unpaid office holders at local sporting clubs, childcare centres and churches without AMP’s written approval.

The Australian reported AMP staff had been given one week to sign the contract that enables their employer to carry out continuous video surveillance of them – including when working from home – allow the company to sell their personal information, and prevent workers seeking ­advice from a lawyer or ­accountant about the contract without AMP’s permission.

In a letter sent to the FSU on Friday, AMP people services director Malcolm Dore rejected the union’s criticism, claimed the contract “contains standardised and contemporary terms and conditions of employment”, and said AMP would not be making changes.

But as the company’s deadline for employees signing the ­contract arrived, Ms George wrote to employees, saying she was “not immune” to their feedback and had engaged with many employees to “allay their concerns”.

Announcing “key areas of clarification”, she said she understood there had been concern about the ability of workers to seek advice from a lawyer or accountant about the contract, and AMP was now providing express written permission for them to seek advice.

She said AMP was also providing express written permission for workers to engage in unpaid positions with other organisations as long as they did not create a conflict of interest or adversely impact their responsibilities as an AMP employee.

Ms George said the intention of the surveillance clause was to cover AMP’s offices and premises. “It was never intended to cover your private home,” she said. “AMP unequivocally confirms that it will never use camera surveillance when you’re working from home.”

Professor Stewart said AMP’s move to provide consent to the employees confirmed the contentious provisions did mean what they appeared to say.

“Instead of saying that it’s not necessary to seek AMP’s consent to speak to a lawyer about your contract, or to take up a position in an organisation that has nothing to do with your job, it’s confirming that you do have to get your employer’s permission,” he said.

“And assurances of this kind would not generally be regarded as binding, meaning they could be withdrawn in the future.”

FSU national assistant secretary Nicole McPherson said the union would be taking action in the Fair Work Commission over the contract.

“They still managed to get it so wrong that on the day that (employees’) signatories are due, that morning they are still trying to make amendments to make it acceptable to workers,” she said.

“On Friday afternoon, Malcolm Dore was saying AMP was not changing a thing, and literally on the very next business day, they’ve admitted there are at the very least three substantial issues with the contract that needed revision.”

Ms McPherson agreed with Professor Stewart’s comments. “If they were going to do the right thing, they would revise the contract wording,” she said. “This is an admission that people would need that permission. It’s an amazing turn of events.”

AMP on Monday said the vast majority of employees had now signed the contract.

“We wrote to our team to address some concerns raised and to clarify the intent of some of our contract clauses” a spokesman said. “We will absolutely not use camera surveillance when anyone works from home, of course our people can seek legal advice on their contracts, and they can participate in community volunteer activity outside of AMP, something that we actively support through the AMP Foundation.”