Listing Last Names on ID Cards Violates Employees Privacy and Safety

The Prairie North Health Region started requiring employees to wear ID cards displaying their photo, job title, first and last name. The union grieved claiming that the last name requirement jeopardized employees’ safety and violated their privacy. The case dragged on for three and a half years. But for the union, it was worth the wait. Making employees display their last names increased their risk of being attacked by patients and visitors outside work, according to the arbitrator; it was also a non-consensual disclosure of protected personal information banned by privacy laws