
Employee Handbook
Confidentiality
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
In the course of your employment, you may receive confidential information about the Business and its clients (including client names and contact information) and employees (collectively, “confidential information”). Disclosure of any confidential information would be highly detrimental to the Business’ best interests. As such, all employees, volunteers and other agents shall:
Take precautions to protect and maintain all confidential information;
Only release confidential information to those authorized to receive it;
Not disclose, publish or distribute (including by way of social media) confidential information to any unauthorized persons, including the media, at any time;
Not remove confidential information from its premises or your workplace without its express permission;
Not make improper use of confidential information, either directly or indirectly; and,
Safeguard against unintentionally disclosing confidential information – that is, by not discussing confidential information in public and by not working with confidential information on a laptop in public or transmitting such information by unsecured means.
When your employment ends, you must immediately return all materials or property belonging to the Business. You agree not to retain, reproduce or use any confidential or proprietary information or property belonging to the Business, including lists of its clients and/or employees.
HANDLING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
The following rules govern how all employees, independent contractors, volunteers, and other agents shall handle and store confidential information:
Confidential information shall be circulated in sealed envelopes.
Address and mark confidential envelopes with the words “PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL”. These envelopes are to be opened only by the persons to whom they are addressed or by persons designated by management as being responsible for handling confidential material.
If applicable, handle confidential information with care and, where appropriate, place documents in the shredding receptacles located in the office.
At the end of the working day, individuals must lock doors, desks, filing cabinets and any other storage cabinets containing confidential information. Such cabinets and storage facilities must always be closed and secure.
PROTECTION OF ELECTRONIC DATA
If applicable, the following rules govern the handling of electronic data:
Individuals must log off their computer at the end of every shift or workday or when they are to be away from their desks for an extended period of time.
Computer passwords are to be changed semi-annually.
Individuals must safeguard and must not disclose their computer access codes or any other access mechanisms they have. In that regard, each person is responsible for all activity that occurs while using their access codes or other mechanisms, except where this information was obtained by fraudulent means and the individual in question could not have prevented such unauthorized use through diligent precautionary measures.
Where possible, computer monitors should be positioned so that they cannot be seen easily by anyone outside of the office.
BREACHES OF CONFIDENTIALITY
Anyone who becomes aware of a breach of confidentiality, or who suspects that a breach has occurred, must report the incident to their manager or to another member of management immediately. An investigation will then be conducted as expeditiously as possible to determine how the breach occurred and, if possible, who was responsible for the breach.
Anyone who becomes aware of an unauthorized or fraudulent use of their access codes or access mechanisms must immediately notify their manager or another member of management.
USE OF PERSONAL DATA
The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) regulates our use of your personal data, in addition to any other privacy legislation that is applicable. As an employer, it is our responsibility to ensure that the personal data we process in relation to you is done so in accordance with the required principles. Any data held will be processed fairly and lawfully and in accordance with the rights of our employees. We will process data in line with the applicable legislation in relation to both job applicants and employees.
You have certain rights in relation to your data. More information about these rights is available in our Privacy Policy. We are committed to ensuring that your rights are respected in accordance with the law and have appropriate mechanisms for doing so. We may ask for your consent for processing certain types of personal data. This includes use of software for tracking human resources and login data. In these circumstances, you will be fully informed as to the personal data we wish to process and the reason for the processing.
You may choose to provide or withhold your consent within the software itself. Once consent is provided, you can withdraw consent at any time. You are required to comply with all Company policies and procedures in relation to processing data. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.