You have until 30 September to have your say on being watched at work. It takes fifteen minutes, and four questions matter most

The government's consultation on workplace monitoring closes at 11:59pm on Wednesday 30 September. It is open to anyone, including individual workers, and it says so. Here is how to take part without giving up an evening.

How to respond

Use the online form linked from the consultation page on GOV.UK. It saves as you go, so you can stop and come back. You can also email WMTConsultation@businessandtrade.gov.uk, saying which question each point answers.

You can answer as an individual and skip the questions that do not apply. You can leave out personal details entirely. Know that responses may be published in anonymised form, may be disclosed under freedom of information law, and may be analysed with the help of AI tools, as the document itself says.

The four questions that matter most

Question 52 asks who any duty to consult should cover: employees only, employees and workers, or everyone who is not self-employed and is exposed to monitoring. If you drive, deliver or work through an app, this is the question about whether people like you would be in or out.

Question 48 asks what should trigger consultation: any new system, only high-risk ones such as biometric or continuous monitoring, significant changes, or monitoring used for performance, pay and discipline.

Question 51 asks what should happen if staff representatives object. One of the answers offered is that the employer should not go ahead without agreement in specified high-risk cases. None of the three options in the document proposes that, so this is where it gets tested.

Question 55 asks what the remedies should be, including whether a system should be suspended until a proper consultation has taken place.

Where your experience counts most

Questions 6 to 14 ask what happens in your workplace: what is monitored, what you were told, and whether you can challenge a decision. The document admits the government does not know how common monitoring is. Its own estimates run from 20 to 85 per cent. Plain answers from people who are monitored are the evidence it says it lacks.

If you run a business

The questions are for you too, and your view on cost, practicality and the pace of change is asked for directly in questions 36, 45 and 63.

This paper does not tell you what to answer. It is a genuine choice, and the document sets out real costs on every side.