On June 2nd, Ontario’s so-called “right to disconnect” law came into effect. The Working for Workers Act, 2021 (“Act”), stipulates the following:
Written policy on disconnecting from work
21.1.2 (1) An employer that, on January 1 of any year, employs 25 or more employees shall, before March 1 of that year, ensure it has a written policy in place for all employees with respect to disconnecting from work that includes the date the policy was prepared and the date any changes were made to the policy.[1]
Despite sometimes being framed as introducing a right to disconnect, in reality, the Act creates only minimal protections for workers. It merely requires that employers who employ 25 or more employees create a written policy governing their workplace’s rules for disconnecting and that this policy must be made readily available to employees. While this is a small step forward, ensuring that workplaces create and adhere to a consistent policy, the Act is unlikely to have much of an effect on workers. For instance, employers are still free to draft their policy with little or no protections for disconnecting. An example would be declaring the hours protected for disconnection as 3:00-3:30am.
While substantively the law does very little, it does bring to the forefront a growing global movement advocating for the right to disconnect. This opens the door for more substantial protections to be passed in the future. Should Ontario develop a deeply robust right to disconnect, one potential model is Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Right to Disconnect (“Code”). The Code enshrines three elements into Ireland’s employment law:
The right for employees to choose not to have to routinely perform work outside of their normal working hours.
The right for employees not to be penalised by their employer for disconnecting.
The duty to respect others’ choice to disconnect.[2]
This would be a significant enhancement of what has been legislated in Ontario via The Working for Workers Act, requiring not only that a policy exist but also imposing significant direction as to what the policy must include. Other countries which have passed strong right to disconnect legislation include France, Italy, and Spain. Some countries have also created a limited right to disconnect in specific circumstances. For example, Slovakia has created a right to disconnect for remote workers to prevent them from being compelled to work after-hours.[3]
As an emerging global trend, right to disconnect legislation has the potential to fundamentally reshape employment law. Ontario’s present policy, however, does little to contribute to such a revolution but serves as an acknowledgement that the right to disconnect is of growing interest.
-PC
[1] Working for Workers Act, S.O. 2021, c 35.
[2] Workplace Relations Commission Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Right to Disconnect, pg 4.
[3] Daniel Grigel & Zuzana Steklacova, "Slovak Republic: Dividing line drawn between remote work and homework" (22 March 2021), online: International Financial Law Review https://www.iflr.com/article/2a6466axp6qvytzkovtog/slovak-republic-dividing-line-drawn-between-remote-work-and-homework.
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