On October 28, 2024, Ontario’s Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 received Royal Assent. This article provides responses to common questions about remote employees regarding changes to Ontario’s workplace safety and health law in 2024, as discussed in our recent articles “Ontario’s Working for Workers Five Act, 2024—More Rules for Employers?” and “Multiple Working for Workers Acts Were the Tale of Ontario’s 2024.”

Quick Hits

• The Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 amended the Occupational Health and Safety Act’s (OHSA) definition of “industrial establishment” to exclude any office in a private residence.
• However, this does not mean the OHSA does not apply to private residences. The Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 also amended the OHSA to apply to telework “performed in or about a private residence.”
• Simply put, the OHSA applies to telework in private residences, but the OHSA Regulation on industrial establishments does not.
• The legislature’s likely intention with these amendments is to ensure that employers are still protecting employees working from home, but employees do not need to follow rules and regulations meant for traditional work facilities.

Telework and the OHSA

The Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 amended the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), section 3 Private residences, by adding subclause (1.1). Section 3 now states,

3 (1) Except as is prescribed and subject to the conditions and limitations prescribed, this Act does not apply to work...

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