video surveillance

Surveillance in the workplace

March 11, 2020 Lisa Stam, Spring Law Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Privacy and Security, 0

Workplace privacy is an evolving and somewhat muddy area of law. In Ontario, our key employment law statutes, the Employment Standards Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act, are silent on the issue of privacy. Yet surveillance is ubiquitous.

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Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

January 31, 2019 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Payroll, Privacy and Security, Source Deductions and Reporting, Wages and Compensation

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with record retention, video surveillance and the wage gap.

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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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Is driving a bus unsafe? It depends who you ask….

July 31, 2013 David Hyde Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Union Relations

A recent investigation and ruling by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (“HRSDC”) has found that OC Transpo, the public transit operator in Canada’s capital city, is not doing enough to protect its bus drivers from workplace violence as required under the CLC.

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Five steps to a successful video surveillance system installation

January 21, 2013 David Hyde Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Privacy and Security, Union Relations

Many organizations have introduced video surveillance in the name of improving safety and security within workplaces, physical facilities and public spaces. An all-too-common catalyst for the installation or expansion of camera surveillance systems is a crime or security incident that captures the attention of the media, the public, or both. In the immediate aftermath of a crime or other troubling occurrence, there is often pressure on senior decision-makers within the organizations to act swiftly and visibly to recapture the confidence of key stakeholder groups such as customers, shareholders or the public.

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Expanded citizen’s arrest law and the Canadian workplace

June 29, 2012 David Hyde Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Privacy and Security

The Conservative government is poised to enact the first substantive expansion of citizen’s arrest laws in Canada since 1955. The catalyst for the Bill C-26 amendment to the citizen’s arrest section of the Criminal Code of Canada was the 2010 case of Toronto grocer David Chen who faced criminal assault charges after performing a citizen’s arrest of a habitual thief he had seen stealing from his store earlier in the day.

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Video surveillance and the workplace – Part 2

April 20, 2012 David Hyde Human Resources, Privacy and Security

A mixture of incognizance and apathy often prevails in the private sector when it comes to understanding and applying legal privacy considerations in the installation and use of video cameras…

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Video surveillance and the workplace – Part 1

March 16, 2012 David Hyde Employee Relations, Human Resources, Privacy and Security, Union Relations

A number of recent, unrelated legal developments have caught my attention in relation to video surveillance, privacy and the Canadian workplace. This blog post is the first of a two-part series that will identify some of these recent developments and consider their broader implications.

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A very expensive case of bad-faith termination and sick pay fraud

April 30, 2010 Christina Catenacci Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources

I recently read an interesting case about sick pay fraud and bad-faith termination. After reading the employer’s version of what happened, I was pretty convinced…

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