Employee Privacy on the Job
All employers in BC must ensure that they follow the applicable privacy law and the collective agreement or employment contract that may apply.
They must, at minimum, make sure that your personal information is shared only with those other employees who need to know the information to carry out a job function.
Again, this requires that the organization’s need must be balanced against your right to privacy. Generally speaking, the more sensitive the personal information, the fewer number of people will need to know it.
For example, and depending on the size and structure of your workplace, your manager may, or may not, need to know information such as your SIN, information obtained during the hiring process (if your manager was not involved in that process) or certain types of personal health information.
However, what type of personal information the employer is allowed to collect will depend on the specific facts and circumstances of the case.
Any personal information an employer collects about an employee is subject to the protections and to the right of access and correction required by the applicable privacy law.