'This is concerning': Sask. privacy watchdog cautions health authority over use of 'do not hire lists'

A registered nurse takes a moment to look outside while attending to a ventilated COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit at the Humber River Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, January 25, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Saskatchewan’s privacy commissioner is taking aim at the province’s health authority over the use of "do not hire lists" among its recruiters.

In a report released on Friday, Commissioner Ron Kruzeniski called on the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) to fulfill the access to information request of a former staffer who sought to learn if they were included on its so-called do not hire list in the Swift Current area.

The applicant first made the request to the SHA in December, asking for copies of their HR and labour relations documents, whether they were included on the do not hire list in the former Cypress Health Region, and inquiring about the policies and work standards use by the SHA to determine whether to include someone on the list.

Kruzeniski says the SHA shared the labour relations documents and work standards for inclusion on what it calls the "cautionary hire list," but would not disclose if the applicant was on it.

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According to the submission from the SHA, the cautionary hire list provides “a method for managers in the SHA to flag employees who, based on their previous working experience within the SHA, may not be suitable for future employment in the SHA.”

“Whether or not an SHA employee is placed on the cautionary hire list as per the provided work standard is evaluative and based on the opinion of the employee’s manager,” the SHA said in its submission to the privacy commissioner.

“That information is provided by the manager to HR in confidence, implicitly. Therefore, the SHA will not disclose to the employee whether or not their name was placed on the cautionary hire list.”

But Kruzeniski says that simply stating the confidential nature of the information was understand “implicitly” fails to meet the burden of proof required to keep that information secret.

“I would expect further arguments to support why this is so. The work standard was provided, but if this was relevant to the statement made, the SHA did not point to anything in it to support its statement,” he said.

Kruzeniski expressed concerns with the SHA’s use of cautionary hire lists.

“This is the third report I am issuing that relates to these types of lists … and there are at least two more in the queue that will be issued shortly,” he said.

“In all my cases involving the SHA, it has been resistant to provide my office with the record so I can conduct my review. It ultimately provides it but, in each file opened, I am faced with the same resistance,” Kruzeniski said.

“This is concerning.”

The existence of cautionary hire lists poses privacy issues that need to be considered by the SHA, Saskatchewan’s privacy commissioner says.

“For example, the SHA’s aforementioned work standard sets out the steps required to place someone on the list and the process regarding ongoing maintenance of the list. It states that all external resumes, including contractors, must be checked against the cautionary hire list prior to any offer being made. This step is done by employees in Workforce Planning & Employment Strategies.”

But it appears other departments also have access to the list, Kruzeniski says.

“Who all has access to this list across the SHA is a privacy concern. How are potential breaches of privacy related to this list being caught and handled? If the SHA is reluctant to be transparent with individuals about being on the list and why, how are individuals supposed to challenge these decisions?”

In his report, Kruzeniski encouraged the SHA to reconsider its use of cautionary hire lists unless it can demonstrate that all related privacy concerns have been addressed.