![workplace-with-people-in-walking-in-blurred-motion-in-modern-office-space_AdobeStock_714071973](https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/-/media/images/nrf/hero/workplace-with-people-in-walking-in-blurred-motion-in-modern-office-space_adobestock_714071973.jpeg?w=265&revision=757b8aa8-f74f-4e2d-9ccd-084ec5192278&revision=5250277392097387904&hash=380B464034E4102358A0D456AAB43445)
Publication
Merger law reform in Australia: What next after the Exposure Draft?
As expected, the Australian Commonwealth Treasury released an exposure draft for the proposed new Australian merger regime on 24 July 2024.
Author:
Canada | Publication | November 14, 2022
As of November 10, 2022, most provincially regulated Ontario employees should have their employer’s electronic monitoring policy in hand (or in their inbox). If your organization has not prepared and distributed this policy, it is time to do so.
In April 2022, Ontario made changes to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) requiring designated employers to adopt a workplace “electronic monitoring policy.” An employer must adopt this policy if:
Employers who had 25 or more employees as of January 1, 2022, were required to have the policy in place by October 11, 2022, and provide it to employees by November 10, 2022.
In future, if an employer has 25 employees or more for the first time on January 1 of a given year its policy must be in place as of March 1 that year.
The requirements for an electronic monitoring policy are limited to informing employees of how, when and why they are monitored electronically. The policy must be in writing and describe:
If an employer does not conduct electronic monitoring of employees it must still adopt a policy to that effect. An employer may create multiple policies applicable to different employees, either in a single document or in multiple documents.
“Electronic monitoring” includes all forms of monitoring of employees that are done electronically. Examples include:
The scope of the required information in the policy is not limited to monitoring of employer-owned devices or monitoring that occurs while employees are at the workplace. If the employer electronically monitors employees in any way, including on their personal devices, at home or after working hours, details of such monitoring must be captured in the policy.
A written copy of the electronic monitoring policy must be provided to each employee within 30 days of:
The employer may provide employees with a copy of its policy through a printed copy, an email attachment if the employee can print a copy, or a link to the document online if the employee has a reasonable opportunity to access the document and a printer.
An employer is required to retain copies of every written electronic monitoring policy for three years after it ceases to be in effect.
Employees may make a complaint to the director of employment standards if the employer has not provided them with a copy of its electronic monitoring policy by the required deadlines. Unionized employees may grieve a failure to disseminate the policy.
An employer may be ordered by an employment standards officer or labour arbitrator to comply by issuing the policy.
The ESA amendments specifically state that the requirement for an electronic monitoring policy does not affect or limit an employer’s ability to use information obtained through electronic monitoring of its employees. The policy requirement does not create new privacy rights for employees beyond the requirement to inform employees of the nature and extent of electronic monitoring.
However, unreasonable electronic monitoring of employees may still trigger liabilities outside of the ESA.
Publication
As expected, the Australian Commonwealth Treasury released an exposure draft for the proposed new Australian merger regime on 24 July 2024.
Subscribe and stay up to date with the latest legal news, information and events . . .
© Norton Rose Fulbright LLP 2023