Every person has a right to keep personal information private. This means that you are not required to reveal information about yourself when the person asking for it doesn’t really need it. You have the right to discretion and anonymity.

The right to privacy is a fundamental right protected by the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. It allows you to make decisions without interference by the state or another person.

It is reasonable to expect that your privacy will be protected in most places and in most situations. Still, there are some places and circumstances in which this right will be limited. For example, when you go through customs, your right to privacy is extremely limited. Let’s take a look at the limits to privacy in the workplace.

Yes. Your employer needs to know certain things about her employees. For example, before hiring you, she usually has to read your C.V. to know if you have the right skills and experience for the job. Your employer also needs to know your address and social insurance number in order to pay you and deduct taxes and employment insurance at the source.

No. The law imposes two conditions on the collection of personal information by your employer. First, the information must be absolutely necessary, meaning your employer must really need it. For example, if you apply for a job in the transportation industry, you can expect to be asked if you have a valid driver’s licence. On the other hand, the same question would not be permitted if you applied for an office job – you don’t need to be able to drive in this line of work.

Second, the gathering of information must be legitimate, meaning that it must be done in a legal way. An illegal way of collecting information is to ask discriminatory questions. For example, it is discriminatory to ask a person if she has children during a job interview.

No. Every time someone asks for personal information about you, your former employer must obtain your consent before giving that information out. Still, an employer you’ve applied to is allowed to check up on the information you gave during the interview if she has a serious and legitimate reason for doing so.

If you give your former employer permission to release some information about you, it is preferable to give consent in writing, specifying what kind of information you authorize for release. For example, you can allow the employer to give information on your performance and attitude at work without authorizing the release of your social insurance number or salary.

Yes. The law requires that your employer give you access to all personal information that she collects about you. She must also inform you of the reason for making the file, the use that will be made of the information, the people who will have access to it, and the place in which it will be kept.

You can even exercise your right to have certain information in your file corrected if it is inaccurate. If your employer refuses, you can contact the Commission d’accès à l’information, a government agency in charge of dealing with these kinds of problems.

Generally no, but if your behaviour indicates that you are unable to accomplish your work safely, efficiently, and reliably, your employer can ask you to pass a screening test.

On the other hand, it would be unreasonable to have a general, systematic screening program at work. Drug and alcohol screening procedures are extremely intrusive and could allow your employer to get extra information that she doesn’t necessarily have a right to know – for example, about medication you’re taking, pregnancy, etc.

You should keep in mind, however, that if you consume too much alcohol on the job or on your breaks, this can be considered a valid reason for firing you. It all depends on the circumstances: a bartender might be allowed to have a beer while working, but the same thing certainly wouldn’t be allowed in the case of a daycare worker…

When an employer has good reason for doing so (for example, if money or property is stolen), he may install video cameras to monitor employees. However, cameras cannot be placed in certain locations, such as washrooms. The rule is simple: if the employer has no alternative but to film employees at work, he must do everything possible to respect their rights.

The bottom line is that videotaping is a surveillance method that should only be used as a last resort and in a reasonable manner.

Yes and no. The messages you send and receive during the course of your work are not confidential. But your personal e-mails are. Your employer may not intercept or use your private messages, even if they are sent from the workplace.

All the same, if your employer has made it clear that the use of e-mail for personal reasons at work is not allowed, she can access your e-mail to check if you are respecting this rule. Under no circumstances, however, can the employer read your e-mail out of curiosity or to obtain personal information about employees.

Yes. Your employer has the right to take measures to ensure that you respect your obligations. This includes the right to verify that you are actually suffering from the injury that is preventing you from working. The law provides that it is legitimate for a person to gather information if his job is to detect offences or fraud.

Just like for surveillance videos, an employer has the right to conduct searches (or to check that an item was bought) in order to protect his property. Generally, a business carries out searches as a safety measure or in order to search for stolen objects. However, an employer can only exercise his right to protect his property in a manner that interferes as little as possible with his employees’ rights.

For example, an employer cannot systematically search everyone, all of the time. Neither can he have a policy that interferes with the dignity of his employees. For example, he cannot search an employee and immediately dismiss him in front of everyone during business hours if an object is found on the employee without a receipt.

Searches in the workplace cannot be arbitrary. A business that carries out searches must have a policy that ensures that its rules with respect to searches are applied uniformly to employees and that employee rights are respected.

If your right to privacy has been infringed and you suffer some kind of harm or loss as a result, you can seek damages in court (this means suing someone for a certain amount of money).

Let's say that your privacy continues to be infringed - you can ask the court for an injunction to order that it stop. You may wish to consult a lawyer before doing so.