The Employment Standards Act (ESA) has recently been amended and now mandates that certain workplaces implement policies on “disconnecting from work” and the electronic monitoring of workers. This article seeks to dispel some of the confusion surrounding those new amendments.
The amendments do not apply to all workplaces. They are not applicable to federally-regulated workplaces like banks and airlines. They only apply to provincially-regulated workplaces that employ 25 or more employees.
The new law recognizes that modern technology has created situations where work has extended beyond the traditional physical workplace.
“Disconnecting from work” is defined as “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.”
In the media, this has been called “the right to disconnect.” That term is misleading because the amendments do not provide workers with the right to refuse work and the changes do not place new restrictions on an employer’s ability to expect work after regular hours.
The bottom line is that the new law now gives some workers the right to a transparent policy on expectations for after-hours work.
Workers should be aware that they have other relevant rights under the ESA. They have the right to be paid for work performed, minimum wage, overtime and eating periods....
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