Wednesday, September 07, 2022
The Ontario Public Service (OPS) Employer needs to apply an Equity Lens when refreshing its Information Technology (IT) policy to protect staff, AMAPCEO asserts in its latest submission.
As written, the OPS Employer’s IT Resources Policy & Guidelines permits the Employer to monitor any employee’s work device when the Employer has a “reasonable expectation” that the employee has violated the policy. The policy does not define what those reasonable expectations are, and the union is concerned that this continues to leave opportunity for discrimination, harassment, and bullying—and to perpetuate systemic racism.
“This vague language can enable abuse of the policy and cause members harm,” AMAPCEO Vice-President Cynthia Watt said.
Given the findings of the recent OPS Third-Party Review, the union is concerned marginalized staff—those who are racialized and/or Indigenous—may be disproportionately affected.
AMAPCEO also called on the OPS Employer to follow the examples set by the federal, British Columbia, and Alberta governments and implement a more common-sense approach to the use of work devices for personal use. Under the current OPS policy, employees are required to receive permission from their managers to use their Employer-provided devices for even innocuous personal reasons, such as checking a bus schedule or the weather forecast while on a break.
“Not only is this highly restrictive, it’s outright unrealistic,” Watt said. “What other governments have laid out for their staff makes a lot more sense. Ontario needs to follow suit.”
AMAPCEO is also advocating that the Employer incorporate employee digital privacy rights to protect members’ privacy and reflect current case law. Watt also pointed out that the Employer’s “Refresh” is not in line with recent amendments to the Employment Standards Act when it comes to electronic monitoring.
“Our submission provides four detailed recommendations to bring the IT Policy in line with the Act, including outlining what data the Employer may collect during standard network monitoring practices, how it’s collected and used, and what happens to it afterwards.”