CHAUDHRI: Electronic monitoring of employees hot button issue

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A Canadian National railway train operator has alleged that the company has been monitoring employees’ locations through a company tablet after working hours.

The union representing the train employees, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, has alleged CN didn’t tell workers it was tracking geolocation nor did it seek their consent to collect the data.

In fact, the union says they only became aware of the geolocation tracking by accident during a disclosure process where CN had to disclose why it was disciplining a worker.

The union’s director of public affairs said: “It’s spying, it’s wrong and it’s illegal in our view.”

How prevalent is employee monitoring?

Most may be surprised to know that employers can indeed electronically monitor employees through company-issued property. In Ontario, the law is that employers with 25 or more employees must circulate an electronic monitoring policy to all employees informing them of the nature of company surveillance.

While provincial employers are legally mandated to have such a policy, in my experience few do.

Many employees are issued company laptops and cellphones. Most are also required to download specific software to perform work or log in to company servers. While employees may at first be somewhat judicious about the use of company property, it often takes little time before employees use company devices for all kinds of personal communications and pursuits.

This means your work email, your slack channel and your digital files can be accessed by your employers with startling ease.

Remote and hybrid work has no doubt added an element of ease and flexibility to our lives, but it comes with a steep price. Employers have unprecedented access into employee lives through technology.

As remote work persists, employer access to employee data will likely only increase.

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Even though we all know employers have access to employee data, we often hope or expect that it won’t be accessed and/or used against employees. But with employee misconduct and absenteeism one would expect employers to continue to review and rely on employee data collected through their devices.

Employee privacy is fading as remote work models remain wildly popular. Using digital monitoring policies openly can help to manage employee expectations in a largely remote world.

Have a workplace problem? Maybe I can help! Email me at sunira@worklylaw.Com and your question may be featured in a future column.

The content of this article is general information only and is not legal advice.