PwC plans to electronically monitor remote employees: Alex Lucifero with CTV News

Interview Summary

Many employers and businesses adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic by instituting remote or hybrid work arrangements. As time has passed, however, most employees have been asked by their employers to return to the office. PricewaterhouseCoopers appears to be the latest company that wants to ensure a return-to-office plan is in place. It has implemented electronic monitoring to discern if staff abides by this policy. Electronic monitoring policies are already in place In Ontario. Has this measure solidified in-office requests?

Alex Lucifero, an Ontario employment lawyer and Partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP spoke with CTV News’ Christl Dabu to discuss the legality of electronic monitoring and its efficiency.

Interview Notes

• Electronic monitoring to enforce policy: Lucifero commented that while it can be useful for tracking employee productivity, he remains unsure of its other advantages. “I think PricewaterhouseCoopers trying to enforce a return-to-work policy … is like a school monitoring attendance using surveillance cameras,” said Lucifero. “I think it’s simply the wrong tool for the job. A return-to-work policy is one thing: electronic monitoring of employees is another. Those should be two clearly separate policies.”
• Settling electronic monitoring cases: Lucifero noted that there does appear to be a rise in electronic monitoring cases, though most are settled out of court. “That kind of data collection by employers have been used against employees to their detriment,” Lucifero stated. “The most common example would be in terminating an employee’s employment because of what they might have done on their personal time or during lunch hour or break time. These issues are becoming more and more prevalent as the technology advances and as employers become more emboldened to use that kind of data in judging performance and measuring performance.”

Related Resources

For further insights and discussions related to employee rights, explore the following resources:

• Privacy rights of employees