CN rail trains are shown at the CN MacMillan Yard in Vaughan, Ont., on Monday, June 20, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan DenetteThe Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which is the union that represents 5,500 Canadian National railway employees, alleges CN has been monitoring the whereabouts of a train operator outside of work hours through a company-issued tablet.
“We only found out about this by accident, through a disclosure process where the company was forced to disclose why they were disciplining a worker,” according to Monette. "We are in discussions with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference regarding this matter, so we will decline to comment further.” In 2022, Ontario was the first province in the country to release electronic monitoring legislation. The recent law, dubbed the “Working for Workers Act”, doesn’t stop employers from using surveillance software to monitor their workforce - as long as they're transparent about how they’re tracking their staff.
Cyber security analyst and lawyer Ritesh Kotak believes employees who have a work phone, tablet or laptop should try and purchase their own personal devices to use off work hours.He also says that he uses a tab to cover the camera on his work computer when he’s not on a video call. Kotak adds that, if possible, employees should turn their work devices onto airplane mode off work hours.