privacy

What employers should know about conducting police record checks

November 30, 2018 Beyond Rewards Inc Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Privacy and Security, Recruiting and Hiring

The Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015 standardized police record checks in Ontario as of November 1st 2018. Ontario Employers who conduct police record checks in regards to hiring employees or other purposes must know the requirements of this new legislation:

employment law, police record checks, Police Record Checks Reform Act, privacy

Just cause for dismissal: context is key

October 15, 2018 Vey Willetts LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll

Determining what conduct amounts to just cause for dismissal is no easy task. In part this is due to just cause being inherently situation specific. When describing what may constitute just cause, employment lawyers often refer to extreme examples: think of situations where a public-facing employee makes repeated racial slurs to a customer or commits […]

drunk driving, employment law, just cause for dismissal, privacy, safety at work, termination

Privacy Commissioner of Canada seeks feedback on breach reporting guidance

October 1, 2018 Christina Catenacci Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Privacy and Security

On September 17, 2018, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (Privacy Commissioner) invited stakeholders to provide feedback on a draft guidance and draft breach reporting form entitled What you need to know about mandatory reporting of breaches of security safeguards by October 2, 2018.

breach reporting, employment law, PIPEDA, privacy, privacy breach

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

August 30, 2018 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Privacy and Security, Wages and Compensation

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with a recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision that clarified the limitation period for a wrongful dismissal claim starts as soon as working notice is provided, the Morneau Shepell survey which shows employers in Canada are expecting salaries to increase by an average of 2.6 percent in 2019, and guidelines on obtaining meaningful consent.

Alberta Personal Information Protection Act, British Columbia Personal Information Protection Act, collecting personal information, collection, compensation, consent, employment law, employment standards act, ESA, Jones v Freidman, limitation period for wrongful dismissal, meaningful consent, obtaining consent, personal information, Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, PIPEDA, privacy, privacy policies, Quebec Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector, salary increases, Severance pay, use and disclosure of personal information, wages, wrongful dismissal, wrongful dismissal claim

Privacy Commissioner of Canada provides guidance on meaningful consent

June 4, 2018 Christina Catenacci Human Resources, Privacy and Security

Obtaining meaningful consent represents a significant responsibility, and the Privacy Commissioner has created a checklist to assist organizations in achieving compliance.

consent process, data protection, employment law, Guidelines for obtaining meaningful consent, meaningful consent, Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, PIPEDA, privacy, privacy policy

Privacy Commissioner of Canada provides guidance on inappropriate data practices

June 4, 2018 Christina Catenacci Human Resources, Privacy and Security

The Privacy Commissioner has outlined several “No-Go Zones”, and organizations are recommended to avoid collection, use and disclosure of personal information for these inappropriate purposes.

audio surveillance, collect personal information, collecting data, data breaches, data collection, data disclosure, data practices, data protection, employee screening, employment law, inappropriate data practices, personal information, Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, PIPEDA, privacy, profiling, social media, surveillance, video surveillance

Proposed personal information protection in Ontario

May 7, 2018 Christina Catenacci Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Privacy and Security

The new proposed Bill 14 would apply to every “organization”, which is defined as including persons, unincorporated associations and other organizations but does not include certain individuals, public bodies (some of which include the government, a municipality, or a municipal board of Ontario) and Ontario courts.

employment law, personal information protection, privacy, privacy law

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

May 3, 2018 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Employee Relations, Human Resources, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Privacy and Security, Recruiting and Hiring, Source Deductions and Reporting, Wages and Compensation

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with pay transparency legislation, the taxability of employee discounts and privacy during the hiring process.

employee compensation, employee discounts, employment law, equal pay, hiring, hiring process, pay equity, pay transparency, Payroll, privacy

Recent report of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics

March 5, 2018 Christina Catenacci Employee Relations, Human Resources, Payroll, Privacy and Security

Employers who are governed by PIPEDA are recommended to remain informed on these issues because some of the above-mentioned recommendations may become part of future legislative and policy initiatives.

access to information, access to information privacy and ethics, employment law, privacy, Privacy and Ethics, privacy legislation

Employee’s secret recording of meetings with management contributes to finding of just cause for dismissal

January 3, 2018 Employer Advisor, McCarthy Tétrault LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Training and Development, Uncategorized

A recent decision from the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench supports that an employee’s use of his work phone to secretly record meetings with management may support an employer’s decision to terminate for just cause.

anti-harassment policies, breach of confidentiality, employee complaints, employment law, harassment, harassment in the workplace, just cause for dismissal, privacy, termination, termination for cause

PHIPA fines in the workplace

August 16, 2017 Lisa Stam, Spring Law HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Privacy and Security

This spring the largest penalty to date was issued under Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA). A social work student was convicted of accessing personal health information without authorization, and ordered pay a $20,000 fine and a $5,000 victim fine surcharge.

common law tort for invasion of privacy, digitized workplace, employment law, invasion of privacy, Personal Health Information Protection Act, Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, PHIPA, PIPEDA, privacy, Privacy Act

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

August 3, 2017 Cristina Lavecchia Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Privacy and Security

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with: a warning from the Privacy Commissioner not to reuse passwords, a company that contravened privacy law by releasing the results of an employee’s drug test and Alberta’s investigation of serious workplace health and safety incidents.

drug testing, employment law, health and safety, passwords, privacy, privacy law, workplace health and safety

Privacy Commissioner provides some tips for businesses regarding passwords

August 2, 2017 Christina Catenacci HR and Technology, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Privacy and Security

The Privacy Commissioner Canada has recently released some tips for mitigating risk to businesses involving passwords. One main problem is that individuals use the same password for multiple accounts – this puts them at a much higher risk of experiencing a breach.

employment law, IT security, passwords, privacy

HR and IT: An uneasy alliance

February 6, 2017 Deveen Hunter Employee Relations, HR and Technology, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Privacy and Security

HR is being called on to focus primarily on strategic goals and to add increasing value to organizations. The other field that has become an integral part of business is technology. It is therefore not surprising that in HRs effort to become increasingly relevant, IT is being leveraged in the execution of the HR function in an increasing number of ways. This e–HR revolution has taken many forms, from applicant tracking systems, to machine learning in recruitment and selection to software driven onboarding and employee HR support. The consequence of this is that more and more HR activities are being executed electronically—by a computer instead of by a person.

Data, data interpretation, employment law, e–HR, e–HR revolution, HR, HR management, HR practitioners, IT and HR, PIPEDA, privacy, Protection and Electronic Documents Act, social media, technoethics

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

July 9, 2015 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Accessibility Standards, Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Integrated Accessibility Regulation, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Penalties and Fines, Pensions and Benefits, Privacy and Security, Recruiting and Hiring, Standard for Employment, Training and Development, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with major changes to PIPEDA; family status test in Alberta; and termination due to a mental disability.

big data, Breach notification, consent, Data breach, Digital Privacy Act, discrimination, employment law, family status test, Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, PIPEDA, privacy, termination due to a mental disability