Mackenzie Irwin on CTV Your Morning discusses Ontario electronic monitoring

Interview Summary

New legislation in the province of Ontario requires employers with more than 25 employees whether or not they are being tracked and monitored in the workplace as well as how. By forcing employers to have a policy in place, it seems this legislation would ensure more transparency between employers and employees, particularly for those working from home.

Mackenzie Irwin, a Toronto employment lawyer and Associate at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP joined CTV Your Morning Live to discuss the electronic monitoring policies and their potential influence on employee rights.

Interview Notes

• How will information be disclosed and what details are included: Employers in Ontario will have to provide their employees with a copy of their electronic monitoring policy. The policy has to address how, when and why employers are monitoring their employees.
• Limits to employer surveillance: The main criticism of the new legislation is that employees will not be provided with any new rights. In terms of what an employer is not allowed to do, the current legislation does not provide specific boundaries. Privacy legislation that is already in place throughout the country gives everyone privacy rights. Intrusions to privacy rights are permitted by employers if there is a legitimate business purpose and if the intrusions are minimal.
• Refusal to be monitored by an employee: Many employees might push back at monitoring however, this legislation does not provide additional rights or a way for employees to complain about surveillance. Employees who refuse to be monitored can be terminated but would have to be provided with severance pay.