The question is more how the court/tribunal would feel about them being monitored. I’ve been in areas where this is mandatory industry requirement for some types of manufacturing but it’s also a minefield of contradictory labour laws, workers rights, restrictions, permissions etc.
Even the amount of time you can keep the recordings is governed.
I would strongly advise against walking into a court waving evidence of filming workers without their express written permission and union consent.
I believe its permissible to have cameras on your property as long as it does not cover any public roads etc. that’s what we have. certainly not to spy on people. our builders know we have them, and often ask me to look at them to see if im happy with their work and to check in with me. we work in the uk monday until friday, but home every weekend.
I think its fine to use film intel if everybody knew that cameras were present. but id make sure by asking a French lawyer first…however, lets hope it doesnt come to that. its very hard finding good people when you are not at the house. have you tried finding someone to oversee everything if you are not there frequently ? any local associations that might be able to help ?
The work is being done, the gardening and pool maintained. It strikes me you are getting what you asked for or did you expect something else? Whether they get the work done in more or less time is not your worry. If you think you could have got a better deal then you can always negotiate before renewing. My recommendation: leave it alon.
It’s not about a better deal ! It’s about an agreed 4 days per month for 8 months to do the work they say is needed at our property but a realisation that actually 4 days a month is not necessary as they barely attend for 2 days.
I feel we are being overcharged in this instance.
Are you likely to be there soon so you can have a face to face discussion with the company?
Yes back in a couple of weeks.I’ve also finally got the breakdown of hours they claim to have worked at the house and they are vastly different to what I have!!
Out of interest, what is the hourly rate?
They have just stated days on the Contract 4 days for 8 months then 1 day for 4 months.
We were working on a 7.5 hr day per person ( this was obviously not stipulated our mistake)
Having requested a breakdown last March they sent a spreadsheet today with just hours recorded on certain days with the usual quarterly invoice.
It is not as expected as per my records !
So what’s your plan?
The OP should cut their losses and find someone else.
Get 2/3 quotes from smaller businesses and agree a fixed fee for each piece of work which will be invoiced monthly in arrears, as long as the work is being done to your satisfaction forget about whether the workers should be there for a certain length of time as it will drive you nuts, if you’re happy with the end result surely that’s all that matters, if the work was taking longer than the agreed rate would you offer to pay them extra?
My wife and I ran a successful property management company in Dept 17 for 15 years until 2023 and we would not have been be happy knowing that the client would be constantly monitoring our every move as it shows a complete lack of trust. We regularly sent clients photos of the pools and garden so they knew everything was being done which ought to be enough.
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I think I’m going to have to confront them I guess the trust was lost with the disappearing logs last Christmas made us question everything.
I’ve been looking at alternatives as suggested from my post so hopefully will find someone to replace them.
We have been so let down by various people over our time in France and been duped with a huge financial cost it makes us want to get up and leave sadly.
Fingers crossed it doesn’t end badly !!
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Good luck. 
I can’t remember if you mentioned their contract and whether there are any clauses about terminating i?
There don’t appear to be any clauses as we pay quarterly I can pro rata it I think 
Thank you for your kindness