Employers in Ontario must adopt employee electronic monitoring ‎policies by ‎11 October 2022‎

The Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”) has been amended to require employers with 25 or more employees in Ontario to have an employee electronic monitoring policy in place as of October 11, 2022 and provide a copy of this policy to all of their employees in Ontario by November 10, 2022.

• The employee electronic monitoring policy must include the following:
• A description of how and in what circumstances the employer may electronically monitor employees;
• A description of how the information obtained from electronically monitoring employees may be used by the employer;
• The date the policy was prepared;
• The date any changes were made to the policy.

The Government of Ontario has provided guidance to employers clarifying whether they are required to comply with the employee electronic monitoring policy section of the ESA. After 2022, employers who have 25 or more employees in Ontario as of January 1 of a given year are required to have an employee electronic monitoring policy in place by no later than March 1 of that year.

However, an employer who has fewer than 25 employees in Ontario as of January 1 of a given year, but has 25 or more employees in Ontario later in the year, is not required to have an employee electronic monitoring policy for that year.

Finally, an employer who has 25 or more employees in Ontario as of January 1 of a given year, but has fewer than 25 employees in Ontario later in the year, is still required to have an employee electronic monitoring policy for that year.