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Is your boss tracking you while you work? Some Canadians are about to find out

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2 years ago

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If you’re spending more time on YouTube than Excel during your workday, there’s software that may be flagging you as “unproductive” and sending that activity to your boss. That’s the new reality as remote work is on the rise, causing more employers to monitor employees to see if they’re slacking off.

Near downtown Toronto’s Union Station, a major commuting hub, workers like Fariha Chowdhury say they would like to know if their actions are being monitored.

“It’s technically like being spied on. So it’s within your rights to know if it’s happening,” Chowdhury said.

Mustafa Kobari says companies that turn to these software solutions can be heading down a slippery slope: “Where does it stop? It’s a little bit worrying.”

Some Canadian workers will now learn whether they’re being tracked. Starting on Tuesday, Ontario employers with 25 or more employees will be required to have an electronic monitoring policy, and they have 30 days to disclose the information to staff.

It’s part of the Working for Workers Act, and it makes the province the only one in Canada with legislation on employee monitoring. Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia require employers to disclose data collection under privacy laws.

A step toward transparency

As the COVID-19 pandemic led to lockdowns and forced employees to work from home in droves, many employers implemented electronic monitoring systems without alerting their staff, said Mackenzie Irwin, an employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP in Toronto.

The Ontario legislation applies to all employees using company-issued devices — whether the employer is tracking the GPS of a delivery truck driver or the emails of an office worker.

Starting on Tuesday, Ontario employers with 25 or more employees will be required to have an electronic monitoring policy. It’s part of the Working for Workers Act, and it makes the province the only one in Canada with legislation on employee monitoring. (Pra Chid/Shutterstock)

Irwin said the new rules are a good first step toward transparency. “Once we know what they are actually doing, then we’ll have a better sense of whether those monitoring systems are breaching any other legislation.”

But she said there is more work to be done because the legislation doesn’t actually give employees any new rights to privacy or do much to discourage employers from overly intrusive monitoring. Still, Irwin said she expects employees to take a stand if they feel uncomfortable once they find out how much they are being monitored.

“They’re going to be pushing back on that,” she said.

Employee tracking accelerated due to pandemic

While it’s difficult to nail down just how many companies are using employee tracking software, workplace surveillance “accelerated and expanded” in Canada during the pandemic, according to a report from the Cybersecure Policy Exchange at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Tech firms Time Doctor, Hubstaff and Teramind are just a few that are seeing a growing demand for their monitoring software — which records keystrokes, listens back to phone calls and even takes screenshots every 10 minutes.

Eli Sutton, vice-president of global operations at U.S.-based Teramind, said his customers range from law firms and telecom companies to government and the health-care sector. In Canada, the company currently has about 300 active customers, and another 150 have signed up for a trial.

“Even on the first day of the pandemic, we saw an increase of three to four times the usual traffic to the website,” he said. “We definitely saw a significant rise in the interest in employee monitoring solutions.”

Teramind employee monitoring software can show which activities an employer deems unproductive. (Teramind)

Sutton said his employer clients want to monitor employees for security in order to prevent information from leaving the organization, and for productivity, as a way to understand how employees are spending their time when they’re working remotely.

“Say a particular task should take anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour. If they see a user is working on that task for more than two hours, they can actually track back and see what actions he took for that task and then assist them in being more productive with their time,” he said.

But Sutton agrees that it’s up to employers to set boundaries to use the technology effectively and not just focus on one employee’s actions. “You definitely don’t want to use it in the form of micromanagement…. It’s more about the end goal, not so much what they’re doing every second of the day.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic led to lockdowns and forced employees to work from home in droves, many employers implemented electronic monitoring systems without alerting their staff, one expert says. The Ontario legislation applies to all employees using company-issued devices. (Girts Ragelis/Shutterstock)

Tracking usefulness is up for debate

Some critics of employee monitoring software say it’s actually not an accurate representation of employee performance because it doesn’t capture other work that may be helpful to employers, such as talking to colleagues and mentoring co-workers.

If employees worry about being tracked, they may start rejecting those activities to protect their productivity, said Valerio De Stefano, a professor and Canada Research Chair in Innovation, Law and Society at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.

Companies could fare better by assessing workers based on output, he said, rather than on the time they spend on activities that the computer marks as work. Otherwise, employee monitoring software can often end up being counterproductive, De Stefano said.

“People, when they know that these systems are in place, spend much more time trying to game the system rather than actually focusing on work.”

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Opinions on what Tagovailoa should do next vary after his 3rd concussion since joining Dolphins

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22 mins ago

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September 13, 2024

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Nick Saban has a message for Tua Tagovailoa: Listen to experts, then decide what happens next.

Antonio Pierce had another message: It’s time to retire.

Saban, Pierce and countless others within the game were speaking out Friday about Tagovailoa, the Miami Dolphins quarterback who is now dealing with the third confirmed concussion of his NFL career — all coming within the last 24 months. He was hurt in the third quarter of the Dolphins’ 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night, leaving the game after a scary and all-too-familiar on-field scene.

“This has to be a medical decision,” Saban said on ESPN, where the now-retired coach works as an analyst. “I mean, you have to let medical people who understand the circumstances around these injuries, these concussions — and when you have multiple concussions, that’s not a good sign.

“I think Tua and his family and everyone else should listen to all the medical evidence to make sure you’re not compromising your future health-wise by continuing to play football.”

That process — gathering the medical facts — was getting underway in earnest on Friday, when Tagovailoa was set to be further evaluated at the team’s facility. He was diagnosed with a concussion within minutes of sustaining the injury on Thursday and there is no timetable for his return.

“I’ll be honest: I’d just tell him to retire,” Pierce, the coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, said Friday. “It’s not worth it. It’s not worth it to play the game. I haven’t witnessed anything like I’ve seen that’s happened to him three times. Scary. You could see right away, the players’ faces on the field, you could see the sense of urgency from everybody to get Tua help. He’s going to live longer than he’s going to play football. Take care of your family.”

Concern — and opinions — have poured in from all across the football world ever since Tagovailoa got hurt. It is not a surprising topic — the questions of “should he? or shouldn’t he?” continue to play — nor is this the first time they have been asked. Tagovailoa himself said in April 2023 that he and his family weighed their options after he was diagnosed twice with concussions in the 2022 season.

But Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said it’s not his place, nor is it the time, to have discussions about whether Tagovailoa should play again.

“Those types of conversations, when you’re talking about somebody’s career, it probably is only fair that their career should be decided by them,” McDaniel said.

The Dolphins said Friday that they will bring in another quarterback, and for now are entrusting the starting job to Skylar Thompson. McDaniel said the team will not rush to any other judgments, that the only opinions that truly matter right now come from two sides — Tagovailoa and his family, and the medical experts who will monitor his recovery.

“The thing about it is everybody wants to play, and they love this game so much, and they give so much to it that when things like this happen, reality kind of hits a little bit,” Jacksonville coach Doug Pedersen said Friday. “It just shows the human nature, or the human side of our sport.”

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AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Jacksonville, Florida, contributed to this report.

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Canada’s Sarah Mitton captures shot put gold at Diamond League in Brussels

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25 mins ago

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September 13, 2024

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BRUSSELS – Canadian shot putter Sarah Mitton rebounded from a disappointing performance at the Paris Olympics by capturing Diamond League gold on Friday.

Mitton, of Brooklyn, N.S., won the competition, the final Diamond League event of the season, with a heave of 20.25 metres on her third throw.

Chase Jackson of the U.S. placed second with a throw of 19.90, while German’s Yemisi Ogunleye, the Olympic gold medallist, claimed bronze with a toss of 19.72.

Mitton, the runner-up of last year’s world championship, failed to qualify for the top eight in Paris.

Edmonton runner Marco Arop, who won silver for Canada in the men’s 800 metres at the Paris Games, was scheduled to race in the 800 on Saturday.

Olympic bronze-medallist Alysha Newman, of London, Ont., also competes Saturday in the women’s pole vault.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Michigan’s Greg Harden, who advised Tom Brady, Michael Phelps and more, dies at 75

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26 mins ago

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September 13, 2024

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Greg Harden, who counseled countless people at the University of Michigan from Tom Brady to Michael Phelps, and Desmond Howard to J.J. McCarthy, has died. He was 75.

Michigan athletics spokesman Dave Ablauf said the family informed the athletic department that Harden died Thursday due to complications from surgery.

The late Bo Schembechler, a College Football Hall of Fame coach, hired Harden in 1986 as a staff consultant and student-athlete personal development program counselor.

“He meant the world to me and I could never have had the success I had without the time, energy, love and support he had given me,” said Brady, a former Michigan quarterback who went on to win seven Super Bowls in a 22-year career.

Howard, who won the Hesiman Trophy in 1991, was part of the first wave of Wolverines to count Harden as a confidant, mentor and friend.

“Greg brought wisdom, joy and his calming nature to every encounter,” Howard said. “His presence will be missed by all of us.

“Although my family and I are heartbroken, we hold on to the lessons, guidance and memories that will forever be Greg’s legacy. We are blessed beyond measure to have had him in our lives.”

Harden, who was from Detroit, earned undergraduate and master’s degrees at Michigan.

Phelps lived and trained in Ann Arbor, Michigan, after emerging as swimming star at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and worked on his mental health with Harden.

Harden retired from his role as director of counseling for Michigan’s athletic department in 2020. He still continued to work, advising student-athletes at Michigan along with the Toronto Maple Leafs as the NHL team’s peak performance coach.

He published his first book, “Stay Sane in an Insane World: How to Control the Controllables and Thrive,” last year.

Michigan athletics announced Harden’s death, and shared statements from some of the many people who knew him.

McCarthy, a Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback, sent the school his thoughts in the form of a letter to Harden.

“You gave me the courage and belief as we fought hand and hand against the demons that I’ve spent my entire life fighting,” McCarthy wrote. “You have inspired me by your ability to unconditionally love everyone and everything.”

While many famous football players worked with Harden, he also was a trusted adviser for women and men in all sports and walks of life, including broadcaster Michelle McMahon, who played volleyball at Michigan.

“He poured his heart into thousands of students, athletes, and celebrities alike without any expectation of gaining anything in return,” McMahon said. “He dedicated his entire life to making a difference and investing in the growth of the young impressionable minds that were lucky enough to meet him.

“His captivating presence and charisma captured the rooms he walked in. Greg’s gift to the world was his unwavering ability to help people see themselves fully, in full acceptance of their flaws and their gifts. His relentless approach made it impossible for his mentees to give up on themselves.”

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Follow Larry Lage at https://twitter.com/larrylage

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