Toronto-Dominion Bank has advised a subset of staff in its financial crimes and risk management function that it will begin using monitoring software to collect data on how they spend time at work, according to a recording of a team meeting and an employee-facing document circulated by the bank.
On the call, Deanna Pacitti, the bank's associate vice president of high-risk investigations, described the software as a means to highlight "pain points" and identify where employees are spending excessive time because of system or process inefficiencies. She said the program would run in the background and had undergone a privacy review.
The vendor named in the material is ActiveOps, and the product identified is WorkiQ. According to the information shared with staff, the tool will register time spent in web browsers, internal chat systems and meeting applications. Managers will be able to see whether an employee is active in a meeting and note time spent in common productivity programs such as Excel, while not capturing the specific content of a spreadsheet.
Pacitti told the team the tool will not "listen" to conversations during meetings, though it will indicate when an employee is active in a meeting. She later clarified that the term "active" referred to presence in a meeting. In another example provided on the call, she said the system will show an employee working in Excel but will not record the details of what they are doing within the application.
In written answers provided to staff, the bank said the deployment is "standard practice across the industry" and that automated solutions are used in various parts of its business to improve insight and better allocate resources. TD also stated the tool is "not AI and not specific to any business or matter," adding that where the solution is used, colleagues are informed of its presence and purpose and that safeguards are in place to protect privacy.
Employees on the call raised questions about privacy protections, the scope of tracking, whether the data could influence performance evaluations and if explicit consent would be sought. One staff member suggested the resources used to monitor time might instead be devoted to reducing manual work that currently consumes significant effort.
Pacitti acknowledged the volume of manual processes and said she hoped the monitoring would provide additional evidence for streamlining those tasks. She said the tool is intended to give managers more accurate information about workflows, team capacity and performance so that work can be better distributed.
An undated frequently asked questions document shared with employees described WorkiQ as a way for managers to regain visibility that can be lost in a remote or hybrid environment. The FAQ addressed practical questions such as whether staff can use the internet during lunch and how much of the day employees are expected to have "accounted for." The bank said there is an acceptable amount of unaccounted-for time and that it is working to define those expectations.
It was not clear from the material how many employees would be covered by the rollout or whether the program would be limited to those in Canada. A person who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter said approximately 90 to 100 people were on the team call; that figure could not be independently verified.
The vendor ActiveOps did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to the material shared with staff.
The measures come as TD has expanded its financial crimes and compliance unit in recent years following a record fine for money laundering violations in the U.S. and the largest such fine paid by a major bank in Canada. Most employees at the bank have operated on a hybrid basis since the pandemic.
Staff questioned how data collected by the monitoring tool would be used beyond resource allocation, including whether it could be deployed for direct performance management. TD said the purpose is to improve managerial insight into workloads and that colleagues are informed when and where such tools are active.
Employees sought clarity on consent and data governance. The bank's written material reiterated that colleagues are informed where tools are deployed and for what purpose, and that privacy safeguards exist. The guidance did not include detailed thresholds for acceptable unaccounted-for time or a definitive list of which roles would be covered as the bank continues to determine expectations.
The rollout at TD reflects a broader conversation in the corporate world about the use of desktop and activity-monitoring software. Earlier reporting cited other large employers considering or adopting measures to track hours, activity and tool usage, with some firms framing monitoring as an employee well-being measure. Other companies have scaled back or revised data-collection plans after internal pushback over privacy concerns.
Within the team call, Pacitti said the intention is for the data to show pain points and to support efforts to reduce duplicated or manual work efforts. Several employees reiterated that fixing the underlying manual processes would be more useful than spending resources on monitoring usage patterns.
What the bank says:
TD described the deployment of the monitoring tool as an industry-standard step to provide managers with improved visibility into workflows and to help allocate resources more effectively. The bank emphasized the tool is not an AI application and that colleagues are informed where such tools are used.
Employee concerns:
- Questions about consent and whether the monitoring could feed into performance management.
- Privacy worries about the scope of data collected and how it is stored and used.
- Calls for prioritizing investment in reducing manual work instead of monitoring time and application usage.