Thinking Of Surveilling Your Employees? Here Are Some Tips

If your organization is considering monitoring employees at work, recent guidance from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) highlights important risks for employers to consider.

There are a number of reasons an organization may wish to monitor its employees: to confirm their attendance at work, keep tabs on their productivity, ensure they're using workplace resources appropriately and to track the location of company vehicles, for example.

Earlier this year, a B.C. employer was awarded damages after proving an employee wasn't actually working the hours they logged. But employers can also face risks when they take surveillance too far and don't respect the privacy of their employees.