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By Adam Gorley | 3 Minutes Read July 25, 2014

Arbitrators should apply ‘privacy spectrum’ to personal information

arbitrators-privacy-spectrumThe names of people involved in labour arbitration should be disclosed with the arbitrator’s decisions, unless there are compelling reasons not to do so, according to the open-court principle and the public’s interest. The British Columbia Labour Relations Board affirmed the law in a recent review of an arbitrator’s decision. The board also affirmed arbitrators’ discretion to disclose or withhold personal information under the Labour Relations Code and Personal Information Protection Act.

The case arose when a unionized employee was disciplined and the union grieved the punishment. The employee sought to have his name left out from the arbitrator’s decision-or anonymized by using only his initials. The union presented a number of arguments for why grievors’ and witnesses’ names should not be published in arbitration decisions:

  • The open court principle does not apply to labour arbitrators, because labour arbitrators are primarily a private dispute mechanism
  • Privacy legislation is quasi-constitutional
… Continue reading “Arbitrators should apply ‘privacy spectrum’ to personal information”

Article by Adam Gorley / Employee Relations, Payroll, Privacy, Union Relations / addiction disability, addictions, anonymized by using only initials, British Columbia Labour Relations Board, Charter values, Disability, discipline, discretion to disclose or withhold personal information, employment law, grievors' and witnesses' names should not be published, human rights, human rights code, Internet, labour arbitration, Labour Law, Labour Relations Code, mental health, mental health issue, misuse of personal information, new technological innovations, Non-publication of names in awards, Ontario human rights commission, open-court principle and the public’s interest, personal information, Personal Information Protection Act, policy, privacy spectrum, psychiatric disability, quasi-constitutional in nature, substance abuse, substance dependenc, traditional custom of publicizing the names of grievors and witnesses, union grieved the punishment, unionized employee

By McCarthy Tétrault LLP | 4 Minutes Read July 2, 2013

Employer’s random alcohol testing policy constitutes unreasonable invasion of employees’ rights to privacy

Rule of lawAn employee’s right to ensure workplace safety versus an employee’s right to privacy – these competing rights have been present in the workplace for many years. On one hand, employers must be able to adopt policies to protect their workforce and abide by statutory health and safety obligations. On the other hand, employees expect that they will not be subject to intrusive policies that unreasonably infringe on their privacy expectations.

Article by McCarthy Tétrault LLP / Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Rights, Privacy, Union Relations / alcohol use, canadian employment law, collective agreement, dangerous nature of the workplace, drug and alcohol testing policy, employees’ rights to privacy, Employer’s random alcohol testing policy, employer’s unilateral rule-making authority, employment law, health and safety obligations, invasion of privacy, management’s right to implement policies impacting the workforce, policies and procedures, random alcohol testing component, random alcohol testing was unreasonable, reasonableness standard of review, Return to work, safety concerns, substance abuse, workplace incident, workplace safety

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