Ottawa employment lawyer on CTV News talks employee tracking legislation

Interview Summary

The Ontario government recently passed legislation that has come into effect in the province regarding employee monitoring in the workplace. According to Bill 88, employers with more than 25 employees must have an electronic monitoring policy in place that informs staff when, how and why they are being monitored. What will this legislation mean for employee privacy rights? Can employees face consequences if they choose not to be monitored?

Alex Lucifero, an Ottawa employment lawyer and Managing Partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP spoke to CTV News’ Matt Skube to answer these questions and more on employee rights.

Interview Notes

• Legislation impact on employers: Employers with more than 25 employees now have an obligation to have a written policy in place regarding employee monitoring. Many employees are monitored over cell phones, GPS systems, tracking software, etc. Employers must disclose how employees are being monitored.
• Employee rights under new policies: This legislation does not give employees any additional protections or rights regarding how they are being monitored, or remove privacy rights. Other than the transparency now offered by this new legislation, no employment rights will change for employees.
• Next steps for employees being monitored by employers: Employers do have the right to monitor employees during work hours. Employers do not have the right to track employees on their personal time or outside of work hours.
• Date and information collected through monitoring: Employees should have access to information and data that is being collected if it is relevant and there are concerns about performance and efficiency throughout the work day.