Mute your notifications: Ontario becomes first province to mandate disconnecting from work

EOD could actually mean end of day for employees in Ontario thanks to a new law that came into effect at the beginning of the month.

The provincial government’s Working for Workers Act, most known as the “right to disconnect” law, officially kicked in on June 3, making it the first of its kind law in Canada.

The mandate, which was added to the Employment Standards Act (ESA) last December, aims to create a better work-life balance for Ontario workers, introduce protections for vulnerable workers, and give delivery drivers better washroom access.

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How does it work?

The law states that “disconnecting from work” means “not engaging in work-related communications, including emails, telephone calls, video calls or the sending or reviewing of other messages, so as to be free from the performance of work.”

So, how does the government enforce this?

According to the act, employers that have 25 or more employees as of January 1, 2022, are required to have their own written policy on the right to disconnect in place for all employees by June 2, 2022.

Beginning in 2023, and in the years that follow, employers that have 25 or more employees on January 1 of any year must have a written policy on disconnecting from work in place before March 1 of that year.

While the government does not outline what these policies should look like, it does give examples:

• Whether the employer expects workers to read or reply to work-related emails or answer work-related phone calls after their shift is over
• Whether the right to disconnect depends on the scope of communication
  • time of day
  • subject matter
  • who is contacting the employee (for example the client, supervisor, colleague)
• Whether the employer expects employees to turn on out-of-office notifications when they are not scheduled to work, to communicate that they will not be responding until the next scheduled work day

The act stresses that the employer must determine the content of the policy itself.

If the policy isn’t followed, the government states that it can only be enforceable under the ESA if you have greater rights under that employment policy than an employment standard under the ESA.

Does it really protect employees?

Because of the very loose guidelines, critics are skeptical about whether employees will actually be able to clock off after work hours.

The Ontario Federation of Labour says the policy doesn’t actually protect workers from electronic monitoring and makes it difficult for them to file a complaint if the policy isn’t followed.

Working for workers? More like working for bosses.

We break down the “Working for Workers” Act. #OnLab #OnPoli #OntarioVotes pic.twitter.com/T4i1Y6iWuR

— OFL (@OFLabour) June 1, 2022

Some employees have already received a right to disconnect policy from their employers and are happy about its implementation.

Our company just put out a ‘Right to Disconnect’ policy and I am so fucking HAPPY!

There was a huge problem with people emailing and wanting responses after work hours, and having a side hustle was really the only excuse some people accepted as a reason for me to avoid extra

— 🪙 Akatix 🪙 (@Akatix_) May 31, 2022

Time will tell if these policies will successfully provide a work-life balance for workers.

With files from Daily Hive staff.