PwC plans to track employees' location while at work. Is this practice legal in Canada?

As PricewaterhouseCoopers plans to enforce its back-to-office policy by tracking employees in the U.K., one employment lawyer explains whether the practice is legal in Canada.

The COVID-19 pandemic shook up everyday life in many ways, including making work from home more common.

As the COVID threat has receded from its pandemic peak, life has largely returned to normal around the world, including in Canada.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is one of the many employers that are moving towards getting staff to spend more time in the office.

After the global accounting giant recently announced plans to enforce its back-to-office policy by tracking employees in the U.K., one employment lawyer explains the situation with electronic monitoring in Canada.

The practice has been legal in Canada for many years and has expanded with the evolution of technology and post-pandemic workplace practices, said Stephen Gillman, an employment lawyer and partner with Levitt LLP in Toronto.

"It's never been illegal to track employees, especially in the workplace," Gillman said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca on Tuesday. "I think what's changed since ... is the scope and the way in which employees are now being tracked in the workplace."

Electronic monitoring is common in logistics industries such as trucking, and customer service, and today the practice is expanding to more workplaces, he said.