Can Employers Monitor Your Work Computer?

The Most Famous Places In Toronto, Canada

Toronto, Canada continues to be known as a vibrant, exciting city in Canada, and is showing no signs of slowing down in the future. From incredible tourist attractions, like the CN Tower, to beautiful outdoor parks like Queen’s Park, Toronto is both a great place to visit and a great place to live. As the city continues to grow in popularity, so will some of the city’s more famous areas and attractions.

Royal Ontario Museum Known for its unique exterior and premier artwork, the Royal Ontario Museum is an experience that tourists won’t want to miss. The museum carries a substantial art collection, which features approximately 13 million pieces of art, and 40 gallery and exhibition spaces. The Royal Ontario Museum is Canada’s biggest museum and continues to attract tourists every year with its incredible, expansive collection.

Rogers Centre As one of Toronto’s largest domed sports arena, the Rogers Centre is known for its unique structure. The Centre was built in 1989, and became known for its sliding roof, giving teams the opportunity to play in some of Toronto’s most pleasant weather. While most sports can be played in the Centre, it acts as the home to Toronto’s own Blue Jays baseball team. Additionally, concerts and large events can be held there, given its incredible size and capacity. The Rogers Centre is located directly by the famous CN Tower in downtown Toronto.

Casa Loma Casa Loma is a historical museum in Toronto, close to Niagara Falls. It stands tall, with a similar look to a medieval castle, and brings along a rich history. The Casa Loma has nearly 100 rooms and 36 bathrooms, with each room filled with a history of European splendor. In addition to its massive size, the castle is complete with a secret passage, an 800-foot tunnel, and estate gardens spanning across five acres. Get a sense of how others lived by exploring this incredible gem.

St. Lawrence Market The St. Lawrence Market features a space where vendors can sell their own food products, flowers and other items to the general public. The market has been open for nearly 2010 years, and features 120 different vendors. Visitors can get anything from art pieces to meat and seafood, making it a popular attraction for tourists and residents alike. Since being restored in 1967, the market has become a popular spot for a variety of events, including concerts and television shoots.

The Significance of Keeping Records After a Termination

Employment litigation is highly contentious and issues are often determined on the basis of credibility: in a “he-said-she-said” situation, the more believable party will succeed. Employers can avoid such a situation by retaining and maintaining the integrity of their employee records. 

In the litigation context, employers often bear the onus of justifying certain employment decisions: for example, terminating an employee for just cause, or accommodating an employee under the Human Rights Code. In addition, an employer who loses or destroys material evidence may have a presumption made against them that the evidence in question would not have been in their favour. For these reasons, upon taking a disciplinary action or terminating an employee, employers should act quickly to preserve any records that may be relevant as such records may be used as evidence to justify the action taken should litigation arise. 

Employers should preserve the following types of evidence of employee misconduct in the event of a termination or disciplinary process.

Video Surveillance Video surveillance records can be a very persuasive form of evidence. Video records act like eyewitness evidence, but they have perfect recall and no bias. If the video records are destroyed, the responsibility falls onto the person who viewed the surveillance to discuss its contents during testimony. To avoid this from happening, employers should be sure to save the video evidence. 

Employee Email Immediately following a termination, employers should check the employee’s work email to ensure that any potential evidence is saved and maintained. Like video surveillance, email can serve as evidence of employee misconduct. If an employer has any reason to believe that an employee’s email account may have evidence of misconduct, they should undertake a full review of the email account and make copies of any relevant items. Employers may also consider restricting the employee’s access to the account to avoid the risk of the employee tampering with the content in the emails.

Laptop or Computer Hard Drive Information found on a computer hard drive, including files, software, or internet history may also contain relevant evidence. If an employee was required to use a work computer, it is important to search through its contents before recommissioning the machine to another employee.

Company Phone Records Company phone records may also provide useful evidence for employers. If the employer provides work phones to its employees, they should maintain access to any work-related information and have methods of preventing the loss of this information in the event of a termination for cause. Like emails, employers should have a method of storing this information that ensures it is not manipulated or deleted. 

Evidence relevant to employment litigation can come from a variety of sources, and employers should use their knowledge and judgment to determine what the most likely sources may be in their own workplace. Employers should have a policy of retaining relevant records for a period of at least two years, as this is the period that employees generally have to make a claim under the Limitations Act, 2002. Failing to retain these documents may leave an employer ill-prepared to defend an employment decision.

What medical information are employers allowed to ask for from employers? Malcolm MacKillop shares what’s legal and what’s not.

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Part II

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Malcolm MacKillop writes about the best practices to keep a healthy workplace. 

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