Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
Like most of you, I’m sure, I was extra busy before Christmas last year, and to top it all off, I got sick and had to leave some things unfinished. So I couldn’t bring you this brief round-up of things that happened in the last three months of 2011, much of which has to do with technology and how employers will use it to interact with employees and customers. But it’s a new year and I’ve recovered from my illness and my holidays, so without further ado…
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, December 22nd, 2011
On December 8, 2011, the federal Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service (formerly Bill C-22) came into force. The new legislation aims to protect children from online sexual exploitation, by requiring suppliers of Internet services to the public to:
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, December 15th, 2011
On December 7, 2011, US President Obama and Canada’s Prime Minister Harper released their Beyond the Border Action Plan, which discusses their shared vision for perimeter security. In furtherance of this objective, the plan proposes several immigration-related initiatives.
Read the rest of this post »Friday, November 11th, 2011
A first-grade teacher in New Jersey could lose her job following a questionable Facebook post. While this story comes out of the US, the lessons can apply to workplaces located in Canada.
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
Employers are often at a loss as to how to ensure employees who take sick days are really sick and not simply abusing the system. They are often scared to ask for doctor’s notes, but also scared that if they don’t, the abuse will become rampant. I often encourage employers to consider abandoning the notion of sick days altogether, and simply provide a fixed number of “personal days”, which eliminates the implicit or explicit requirement that an individual be sick in order to have time off.
Read the rest of this post »Monday, October 24th, 2011
Sometimes, technology creates new ways to exploit information faster than the law and business can keep up. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is trying to make sure that doesn’t happen in the case of behavioural advertising. Last year, the Privacy Commissioner conducted consultations on the new ways that organizations are collecting and using customers’ personal information, and prepared its Report on the 2010 Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s Consultations on Online Tracking, Profiling and Targeting, and Cloud Computing.
Read the rest of this post »Tuesday, October 18th, 2011
Organizations that send employees to destinations with a high risk of kidnapping should seriously contemplate kidnap and ransom (K&R) insurance. K&R insurance protects individuals and corporations, typically covering kidnapping, extortion, wrongful detention and hijacking. K&R policies may also indemnify personal accident losses caused by kidnapping, and will generally cover the fees and expenses of crisis management consultants.
Read the rest of this post »Friday, October 14th, 2011
The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, 2011 (Bill 3) was introduced in the British Columbia legislature on October 4, 2011. The Bill aims to facilitate digitization, compiling, sharing and combining of personal data across government ministries (including the Ministry of Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government). Individuals would be able to access government services with a secure digital identification card and personal ID number.
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, September 15th, 2011
In the age of social media like Facebook and Twitter, school administrators are asking whether such electronic communication is appropriate between students and teachers. They are wondering where boundaries for such communication should be placed. Many school boards are choosing a strict path, forbidding or restricting any communication via social media between students and teachers.
Read the rest of this post »Tuesday, September 6th, 2011
There are a number of potentially troublesome issues associated with retaining records. For example: there are storage and privacy concerns; organizations must ensure they keep records secure in accordance with relevant privacy laws. At the same time, organizations might not have considered the self-incriminating information that records might hold, and they will want to ensure they don’t keep potentially incriminating records any longer than the law requires.
Read the rest of this post »Tuesday, September 6th, 2011
In 2010, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada conducted consultations on current privacy issues, including online tracking, profiling, targeting and cloud computing. The office released its report on the consultations earlier this year, and it’s available online.
Read the rest of this post »Monday, August 22nd, 2011
You might have heard about the case in which two car dealership workers were fired for cause after they wrote offensive and harassing messages on Facebook about their employer and managers.
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, August 11th, 2011
The Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner recently confirmed that Alberta Health Services (AHS) breached the rights of one of its employees by intentionally using information from his addiction counselling against him during a human resources investigation. The breach of the employee’s personal health information clearly contravened the Health Information Act (HIA).
Read the rest of this post »Wednesday, June 29th, 2011
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta has determined that an employer violated the Personal Information Protection Act and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act when it disclosed more information than necessary to determine the employee’s eligibility for disability benefits, and that the group insurance provider used the information without consent.
Read the rest of this post »Tuesday, June 28th, 2011
So here’s a question to ask yourself—what are your legal obligations under Ontario law when you see an online photo of your worker committing violent acts?
Read the rest of this post »
Leslie D Foreman:Andrew Taillon:
Copyright © 2012 - First Reference | Entries (RSS) | Comments (RSS) | Twitter | Facebook
WordPress theme designed by 
web design
