Ontario's right to disconnect law too vague to be of much help for workers, experts say
There's little clarity around what to do, for example, if a colleague working a later shift has a question, or whether she's expected to respond if someone emails her at 10 p.m.
The new law has created buzz about its potential to give people peace of mind to tune out of digital communications at the end of the workday. But experts and stakeholders say it's too vague to really move the needle on work-life balance, particularly in the era of hybrid work. Julie Kwiecinski, director of provincial affairs for the CFIB, said she heard from many confused companies that they want to honour the law, but didn't get clear guidance on how to do that.
Employers that fail to set up a policy could be fined, but the ministry is taking an “education first approach.” The Employment Standards Act - and therefore the right to disconnect policy requirement - doesn't apply to employees of the Crown, the ministry said. But McNaughton said just being more aware of the issue has made a difference in his own office.
“Having this policy in place is driving a little more training to make them a little more self-sufficient, so that they don't need to call on people for day-to-day things,” he said. “It's helped us realize where we need to improve a little bit of our process.”
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