In the lead-up to the election, the provincial government continues to announce new workplace laws. Most recently, Bill 88, the Working for Workers Act, 2022, and its associated proposal on employee monitoring. In this blog, we discuss what Bill 88, if passed, would mean for employee surveillance in the workplace.
1. The Basics
As with the new law on the right to disconnect, discussed by us here, Bill 88 doesn’t exactly create a new substantive right for employees. This is because, rather than limit an employer’s ability to monitor employees, Bill 88 simply requires that there be a policy on electronic monitoring and that it be disclosed to employees.
2. Application
The policy requirement would only apply to those employers with 25+ employees on January 1 of any year. It is also provincial legislation and so does not apply to federally regulated employees.
3. Policy Details
Fortunately, unlike the ESA changes regarding disconnecting policies, Bill 88 provides a bit more detail about the content of monitoring policies. Specifically, the policy must state the date the policy was prepared and the date any changes were made to the policy and whether the employer electronically monitors employees. If the employer does engage in electronic monitoring, than the policy must also set out:
- a description of how and in what circumstances the employer may electronically monitor employees, and
- the purposes for which information obtained through electronic monitoring may be used by the employer.
For example, if employers are monitoring employee GPS systems or smartphones to assess productivity, Bill 88 would require that employees be informed of this. At the moment, however, Bill 88 is yet to be passed.
Karimjee Law is continuing to monitor the implementation of Bill 88 and will provide updates as they become available.