Are you an Ontario-based employer who’s reaching out to your employees after work hours with a last-minute, time-sensitive request? Are you giving your employees a quick call to update them on the status of an important project after their workday ends?
In this blog post, we will discuss Ontario’s right to disconnect legislation, why it matters, and what you need to know as an employer.
Let’s start with some helpful background information.
While the start of COVID-19 now feels like a distant memory, the impact of the pandemic has forever altered the way we work. In many cases, businesses are transitioning to fully remote workforces to access the best talent from across the country (or world!) and lower overhead costs. The true expense? Employees’ sense of wellness and reasonable work-life balance.
Last year, Ontario enacted Bill 27: Working for Workers Act to support fairness in employee-employer relationships and address some budding issues that were affecting swaths of employees. While this blog focuses on the right to disconnect, we would encourage you to review the other changes passed under Bill 27, such as banning the use of non-compete agreements.
Bill 27 applies to employers with 25+ employees; however, we would urge all Ontario employers to consider the changes to be passed under Bill 27, as they are backed by extensive research into employee complaints, case studies, and global trends. Legislation sets the bare minimum and, from there, employers get to decide what standards they will uphold for their employees to promote wellness and productivity – regardless of the size of their workforce.
So, what is the right to disconnect?
The Act defines disconnecting from work as “not engaging in work-related communications, including emails, telephone calls, video calls or sending or reviewing other messages, to be free from the performance of work.”
Starting January 1, 2023, employers with 25+ employees are responsible for providing their workforce with a written copy of their policy on disconnecting from work after hours. In cases where a business has multiple locations, all employees across all locations must be counted.
According to the Human Resource Director, 26.4% of employees claim that their employers are reaching out to them outside of their working hours more than once a week! The result? Employees are looking for non-adherence to the Act to result in penalties for employers. While the jury is still out on what penalties might look like, it’s certain to create liabilities for your business if you opt to contact employees outside their working hours.
It is possible that employers who reach out to employees outside of their working hours, even for a brief phone call, will result in owing that employee 3 hours’ pay. The Financial Post emphasizes that this is not a change in the Ontario Employment Standards Act, as “Section 21.2(1) states that ‘if an employee who regularly works more than three hours a day is required to present himself or herself for work but works less than three hours… the employer shall pay the employee wages for three hours.’”
The bottom line? This Act seeks to directly promote a workplace culture that normalizes disengaging from professional responsibilities outside of working hours. This enables employees to enjoy their lives and be free from work-related interruptions.
But, what if it’s an emergency?
You might be wondering, “What if it’s an emergency?”, “What if my employees work varying hours outside of the typical 9-5 schedule?”, or “What if I have employees across Canada?”.
There are some grey areas that will be made clearer over time once this Act is implemented in January 2023 and enforced thereafter; however, we have some guiding principles to share that should provide some clarity:
- Setting communication expectations with your team is critical.
- The Act requires employers to create a policy about their workforce’s right to disconnect. A provision in your policy can include that employees must communicate their working hours daily or weekly if they change regularly or fall outside of the typical 9-5 workday. The same goes for your employees in other time zones.
- What systems can you put in place for employees to clearly demonstrate they are off the clock (i.e., update their Slack status, set automatic email replies, etc.)?
- Empower employees to “shut-off”.
- Encourage employees to adjust their notification settings so that they do not receive notifications when they are logged off for the day. This way, you can reasonably send emails to employees’ work emails without concern that they will be notified.
- Maintain and model boundaries.
- An emergency at work is not something that employees must respond to when they are off the clock. It’s important for employers to consider what they think of as an “emergency” and what they expect of their employees in response. A well-rested workforce is a productive workforce, and your employees are entitled to boundaries around their time (especially salaried employees).
The right to disconnect is a progressive change to employee-employer relations, with employee wellness at its core. No matter how dedicated your employees are to their work, they deserve the right to disconnect.
Not sure what your right to disconnect policy should include? Get in touch! We would be happy to support you in feeling confident that your business practices and policies align with this upcoming legislative change.
Learn more about the ins-and-outs of the Act on Ontario’s Provincial Site.
Curious about how you can do more than the legislatively set standard (aka, the bare minimum) to enhance your company culture? Check out these blog posts on How to Foster a Culture of Belonging, 5 Ways to Support Your Team’s Mental Health, and Musings: Culture Is Manifested, Not Created.