Ontario will become the first province in Canada later this year to require employers to disclose electronic monitoring policies to their employees working at the office, in the field or at home.
Bill 88, the Working for Workers Act 2022, which became law in April, will protect workers' privacy by requiring transparency from employers on how they track their employees' use of computers, cellphones, GPS and other electronic devices. Ontario employers now have to disclose their use of webcams for monitoring purposes, observing keystrokes, screen activity and online chats in the workplace, stated Simmy Sahdra, a lawyer with McCarthy Tétrault in Toronto.
"Everything our government is doing is about building an economy that works for workers," Ontario's Minister of Labor Monte McNaughton said in a statement. "These generational changes are the first of their kind—not only in Canada but across North America."
This legislation comes on the heels of Ontario's right to disconnect from work policy.
"Ontario is taking a lead in the country in terms of modernizing its employer requirements with a view to create more transparency," said Khalfan Khalfan, a lawyer with Stikeman Elliott in Toronto.
A December 2021 Ipsos survey revealed that 89 percent of people in Ontario believe that the workplace has changed permanently due to COVID-19. As a result, workers in Ontario said the province needs to update its employment regulations.
Electronic Monitoring in Ontario
Employers in Ontario...
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