The Working for Workers Act, 2021

Recently, the Ontario government introduced significant changes to workplace laws, intended to provide a wide array of benefits to employees in the province. On December 2, 2021, Bill 27: Working for Workers Act, 2021 (“Workers Act“) received Royal Assent. Two of the most notable changes are: i) a prohibition on non-compete agreements; and ii) the new right of an employee to disconnect from work.

Below is a brief summary of these two changes:

I. Ban on Non-Compete Agreements

Effective October 25, 2021, employers are prohibited from entering into employment contracts or other agreements with an employee that include a non-compete agreement, with narrow exceptions.

A non-compete agreement is defined as an agreement, or any part of an agreement, between an employer and employee that prohibits the employee from engaging in any business, work, occupation, profession, project or other activity that is in competition with the employer’s business, after the employment relationship between the employee and the employer ends.

Notably, there are two significant exceptions. First, executives are not included in this ban. “Executive” includes any person who holds chief executive positions like Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer. This means C-Suite employees and other executives can still be bound by non-compete agreements.

Second, non-compete clauses or agreements are still permitted as part of the sale of a...

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