Canada’s right to disconnect framework is designed to address the growing expectation that employees remain connected to work outside regular working hours. With smartphones, email, messaging apps, and remote work becoming common in many workplaces, many employees find it difficult to separate work from personal time.
Federally regulated employees may have additional protections under the Canada Labour Code. In response to concerns about work-life balance, employee well-being, and after-hours work-related communications, the federal government established the Right to Disconnect Advisory Committee and later announced legislative changes requiring federally regulated employers to establish written policies on disconnecting from work-related communications.
However, many employees are surprised to learn that Canada’s right to disconnect framework does not create an absolute right to ignore all work-related emails, phone calls, or messages after work. Instead, the federal approach focuses on requiring employers to establish clear policies regarding after-hours work-related communications and employee availability outside scheduled working hours.
Canada Labour Code Provisions for Work-Life Balance
The Canada Labour Code has existing provisions with respect to work-life balance. Paid overtime is an example of this kind of regulation. If answering after-hours communications creates further paid work time, and that work time exceeds 40 hours a week, the employee would be entitled to overtime pay for hours in excess of 40. The Code< also sets an upper limit of 48 hours for a week. An employee will not be required to respond to communications if it means that they will be forced to work more than the federal maximum of 48 hours in a week. Other protections offered to employees under the current regime include a guaranteed 8 hours between shifts or work periods, at least one day of rest per week and the right to refuse overtime work if the overtime work would require arrangements to be made for family responsibilities. While these protections are in place, remote work arrangements have created a need for more robust protection of employee private time.
Federal Right to Disconnect Developments
The Right to Disconnect Advisory Committee was established to examine how a right to disconnect framework could be implemented for federally regulated employees. The committee’s recommendations ultimately helped shape subsequent legislative changes announced by the federal government.
- Employees should be paid for all work performed
- Work-life balance is a key goal for employees and employers
- Flexibility is required for both workers and employers
- Health and safety needs to be protected and some communications between employer and worker are critical
- Absolute limits (ie. shutting down email servers) may not be realistic
- Regulations should recognize the varied nature of federally regulated workplaces
- Any policies should be clear
- The privacy and security of the workers needs to be protected
Ultimately, the committee concluded that the most effective way to implement this policy would be to update the legislation to mandate right to disconnect policies. The updates to the legislation would need to consider the variation of federally regulated workplaces as well as the emergency or critical nature of certain workplaces. This means that a legislated solution cannot be a “one-size-fits-all” solution but must be tailored to respond to the unique circumstances of individual workplaces. Another crucial feature of such legislation would be mandated protection from reprisal, to ensure that workers will not face negative consequences for enforcing their right to disconnect under the legislation.
What Happened After the Advisory Committee’s Report?
The Advisory Committee recommended that federally regulated employers be required to establish workplace policies addressing after-hours work-related communications. Since then, the federal government has announced amendments to the Canada Labour Code requiring federally regulated employers to establish written policies on disconnecting from work-related communications.
The federal government has announced amendments to the Canada Labour Code requiring federally regulated employers to establish written policies on disconnecting from work-related communications. The federal approach recognizes that different federally regulated industries may have different operational requirements and that a one-size-fits-all approach may not be appropriate.
Ontario vs. Federal Right to Disconnect Rules
Ontario and the federal government have taken different approaches to disconnecting-from-work policies.
In Ontario, employers with 25 or more employees on January 1 of a given year are required to have a written policy on disconnecting from work, according to Ontario’s Employment Standards Act guide. However, Ontario’s legislation does not prescribe the contents of the policy and does not create a standalone right for employees to refuse all after-hours communications.
The federal approach goes further by specifically requiring federally regulated employers to establish policies addressing work-related communications outside scheduled working hours. Employees working in federally regulated industries such as banking, telecommunications, airlines, railways, shipping, and certain Crown corporations may therefore be subject to different rules than employees working under provincial employment standards legislation.
For more information about Ontario’s disconnecting-from-work requirements, see our article on Right to Disconnect Ontario.
Monkhouse Law is an employment law firm in Toronto with a focus on workers’ issues. If you believe your workplace rights are being violated, give us a call for a free 30 minute phone consultation.