# employer wants to record me presenting training & upload it to the company intranet.



## Orga (13 Dec 2013)

My employer wants to record me presenting training, and make it available on the company intranet from where it may be downloaded. What are my rights in relation to not being recorded - any views?

My contract (which is not written) is silent on the matter. I have delivered training in the past but it is not a regular feature of my work. I have always been flexible, adaptable and accommodated work tasks but I just don't want to be recorded. There's no reason other than a deep-seated personal dislike of being recorded. All views welcome.


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## Gerry Canning (13 Dec 2013)

Orga;  

I can only see it as a compliment to your presentation skills.

Can I advise you (without being cheeky) to do it.

I would be very sure you can simply refuse to do it ,and I don,t see any employer taking offence.

Just seems a shame to not highlight your obvious work skills.


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## Buddyboy (13 Dec 2013)

I agree with Gerry.

I have delivered training in the past, and have been recorded.

What happens is that you pretty soon forget that the camera is even there, when you're "in the zone".

If you absolutely don't want to do it, then fair enough, but one compromise is to ask to have a final veto on the video before it is presented for public consumption. (You'd never know, it might be a start of a whole new career  )


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## Orga (13 Dec 2013)

Thanks for your kind words - I appreciate the sentiment. However, we all have things in life we don't like/want just because we don't like or want them and I don't want to be recorded, while my boss is insisting. So, am wondering what "rights" I may have.


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## WindUp (13 Dec 2013)

Did you explain to him why you dont want to be recorded? He might understand and leave it.


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## Sunny (13 Dec 2013)

He can't force you to do it. Whether you think it is worth making a stand over is up to you. I would echo the idea above. Do the recording but have a look at it before being put online. If you don't like it, delete it. Is there someone else that can do it?


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## Jim2007 (13 Dec 2013)

Orga said:


> There's no reason other than a deep-seated personal dislike of being recorded. All views welcome.



Well unless you are heading for retirement soon, you'd better get used it because that is how training is done now a days.  YouTube, Webinar etc….

It is just part and parcel of professional life now.


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## Orga (13 Dec 2013)

*Boss wants to record me and I don't want it*

I'm not sure I'm communicating effectively enough here - I'm not asking for views on "bucking up and getting on with it". I would appreciate views on whether there is a rights basis for objecting to this.


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## wbbs (13 Dec 2013)

He has to have your permission to do it and put it up in the public area, he simply can't just do it.  However whether or not it will make things awkward for you in the workplace by saying no is another issue entirely.

It's not that strange a question, I was asked similar question lately by someone whose boss wanted to put up the employee photos on their website and they were not happy with it, I rang NERA who advised the employer had to have the employee's permission to do this.

Give NERA a ring Monday, they are very helpful and knowledgeable, 1890 80 80 90, just listen to all the options to the end and you will get to speak to a person very quickly.


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## RainyDay (13 Dec 2013)

Don't know about the 'rights' issue, but you might consider the 'effectiveness' issue. Replaying a video record on its own is not a hugely effective training method. If you look at what the universities are doing with MOOC courses, they combine video lectures with other engagement activities to achieve training outcomes.


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## Setanta12 (13 Dec 2013)

Jim2007 said:


> Well unless you are heading for retirement soon, you'd better get used it because that is how training is done now a days. YouTube, Webinar etc….
> 
> It is just part and parcel of professional life now.


 
+1

Of course you could mess it up, but you're probably destroying any goodwill you have with your boss.  I would take it as a supreme compliment if a boss wanted to parade your skills on their website.  (Think how well that looks on your CV, 'they liked me so much, they put me on their website!' etc etc)


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## Jim2007 (13 Dec 2013)

Orga said:


> I'm not sure I'm communicating effectively enough here - I'm not asking for views on "bucking up and getting on with it". I would appreciate views on whether there is a rights basis for objecting to this.



This is like arguing that you are not going to to use a telephone or a computer or whatever other technology that is becoming part of your working life.  You may have a legal right to object, but at the end of the day if are unwilling or unable to deliver the skill set that others in your profession are, you'll limit your career options in the future.

Right now everyone is experimenting with the technology and getting up to speed on it and it is easy to get on board.  But in 12 or 18 months people will have become polished in it and a skills gap will open up between you and them.  And the challenge will be how do I bridge the gap and keep myself marketable?

I've seen this kind of thing several times over the last 25 years and it always ended the same way - redundancy!  Even with the best will in the world a company is eventually going to run out of work that does not require the new skill set and when it happens....


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## ajapale (14 Dec 2013)

Hi Ogra,

My first response to this was to just get on with it and comply with your employers instructions.

But I can see your concerns. For example what is to stop someone downloading your amateur efforts and posting them on the wider internet leaving you open to ridicule?

aj


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## Orga (14 Dec 2013)

*You've got it exactly!*



ajapale said:


> Hi Ogra,
> 
> My first response to this was to just get on with it and comply with your employers instructions.
> 
> ...




Thanks aj - that's exactly it! In addition, I have concerns because once you put something online it's there forever and there are privacy concerns about this e.g. issues related to where you work, what you do, who you work with, and how you can manage that information should you leave your employer, in say 1, 5, 10 years time.

I appreciate the advice on NERA, thanks wbbs.

Also, thanks fellow AAM-ers for the positive comments.

I should emphasise that I run a considerable number of the change initiatives in my org and that this is not a case of me being inflexible or not wanting to be "modern". It's about attempting to use a reasonable and balanced approach to ensuring that my privacy is protected - if I were in a job where the role involved delivering training which would be videoed then I would and could have no complaints but that's not my job - and what I do never had envisaged as part of the role that I would end up on the internet. If it had then there would have been a very different conversation day 1.

I hope to close the thread after the weekend - am very grateful to all of you for sharing your views.

Finally, thanks to whoever changed the thread title - much appreciated as it saved me the job, thank you.


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