social media

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.

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Social media and recruitment

May 9, 2018 Lisa Stam, Spring Law HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Payroll, Privacy and Security, Recruiting and Hiring, Wages and Compensation

Social media is now a part of our lives, including our work lives. While it can be an important tool, employers need to use their good judgment and use it wisely.

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Privacy Commissioner of Canada creates draft guidance document outlining inappropriate data practices and no-go zones

December 6, 2017 Christina Catenacci HR and Technology, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Privacy and Security, Recruiting and Hiring

On September 28, 2017, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada created a draft guidance document providing clarification on inappropriate data practices, specifically focusing on subsection 5(3) of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). This provision is entitled, “Appropriate purposes”, and states that, “an organization may collect, use or disclose personal information only for purposes that a reasonable person would consider are appropriate in the circumstances”.

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The #metoo moment

November 6, 2017 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights

The sudden fall from grace of film producer Harvey Weinstein, over sexual harassment allegations, has proven to be the first rock in a landslide; in the weeks since, women everywhere have begun to voice complaints about past and ongoing instances of unwelcome sexual attention.

#metoo, employment law, harassment, human rights, sexual harassment, social media

Social media background checks and privacy laws

June 12, 2017 Employer Advisor, McCarthy Tétrault LLP Employee Relations, HR and Technology, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Privacy and Security, Recruiting and Hiring

Social media has drastically changed the way people communicate and do business. Naturally, employers may want to take advantage of the convenience of performing background checks on social media. But with increased use of social media comes increased risk of a privacy violation.

background checks, employment law, privacy laws, social media

Former employee successfully sued for defamation for Facebook posts

March 31, 2017 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Union Relations

In recent years, careless, or let’s say, less than sensible comments on social media have gotten countless employees in trouble with their boss. Employees who have used Facebook as a forum for posting threatening language and vile insults about a supervisor or offensive accusations about the company they work for have quickly been shown the door; and arbitrators and labour boards are often prepared to uphold these dismissals.

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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.

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Protecting employees from social media harassment

February 1, 2017 Devry Smith Frank LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Union Relations

It is well known that employees have certain legal obligations to their employer with respect to the content of their social media profiles. An arbitrator recently confirmed that employers also need to be careful about the content of their social media pages as it relates to their employees.

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Arbitrator upholds just cause termination in part on negative Facebook post

August 11, 2016 Simon Heath, BA, MIR, LLB, Heath Law Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR and Technology, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Training and Development, Union Relations

Social media has become entrenched in our society and millions of employees use it on a daily basis. However, employees are warned that making negative comments about their employers on social media can have significant repercussions. Arbitrator Norm Jesin recently upheld a just cause termination, in part, because the Grievor had made negative comments about the employer on Facebook after his employment had been terminated.

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Top four tech tips for terminations

June 8, 2016 Lisa Stam, Spring Law Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR and Technology, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Privacy and Security, Union Relations

As technology continues to overhaul the workplace and drive change, what remains the same is the emotional uncertainty of termination. Neither the employee, nor the person tasked with conducting the termination, enjoy that awkward meeting.

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Top 3 mistakes of executives upon termination

March 9, 2016 Lisa Stam, Spring Law Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, International HR Law, International Payroll, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Wages and Compensation

Whether a frontline employee on an hourly wage or a senior salaried executive with extensive and complicated variable compensation, there is an equally shared truth upon termination of employment: it hurts, and you are now required to negotiate your termination package in the midst of emotional and financial turmoil.

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Introducing our newest guest blogger Lisa Stam from Koldorf Stam LLP

December 22, 2015 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Accessibility Standards, Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Privacy and Security, Union Relations

We are very pleased to announce that Lisa Stam, Koldorf Stam LLP will be blogging on First Reference Talks starting in January 2016 on the impact, risks and opportunities of social media and technology issues in the workplace, including issues related to BYOD and the mobile workforce, workplace misconduct, privacy breaches, evidentiary weight of social media information, social media crisis management, cross-jurisdictional and global issues with social media, and general strategy on handling social media in business, among other employment and human rights related topics.

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Terminated for tweeting: A tale of two Toronto firefighters

February 3, 2015 Employer Advisor, McCarthy Tétrault LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Privacy and Security, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

When used properly, social media can be a powerful tool for connecting individuals, marketing businesses and mobilizing the masses behind a cause. However, many organizations have learned the hard way that inappropriate social media use by employees can have a detrimental effect on an organization’s reputation.

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Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

January 15, 2015 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Privacy and Security, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with employee termination, duty to accommodate and the consequences of inappropriate tweets.

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Twitter terminations: Sexist tweets found to constitute just cause for termination

December 12, 2014 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Privacy and Security, Union Relations

Since the beginning of time, employees have privately complained about work and made inappropriate comments to friends and family. Today, however, this venting is happening over the Internet. The internet has major reach and many employees, including professors, sports figures, comedians and writers, have already been terminated because of their Facebook and Twitter activity.

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