“Right to Disconnect” – What Ontario Employers Need to Know

Some of you may have heard that Ontario has implemented the “Right to Disconnect” and has requested that employers have a policy that disconnects workers from the workplace during off-work hours. Synergy is happy to share with you some information on some things you need to know if you have employees in Ontario.

What is the Right to Disconnect?

Disconnecting from work means that employees are not to engage in work-related communications, including emails, phone calls, video calls, or sending/reviewing messages outside of working hours.

Employers that employ 25 or more employees are required to have a written policy on disconnecting from the workplace for all employees.

• In the first year of the requirement, if you employ 25 or more employees on January 1, 2022, you have until June 2, 2022, to have a policy in place

• Beginning in 2023 and in the following years, if you employ 25 or more employees on January 1 of any year must have a policy in place before March 1 of that year.

Employers with multiple locations must include all employees at each Ontario location in order to determine if the 25-employee threshold has been met

What to do with the policy?

The employer must have a written policy in place and provide this policy to employees within 30 calendar days of the policy being prepared or the policy being changed (if an existing policy is changed).

What should the policy address?

• Expectations! The policy should outline the employer’s expectations if any, of their employees reading or replying to work-related calls or emails.

• The policy may also outline expectations for different situations such as time of day of communication, the subject matter of communication, and who is contacting the employee.

This information is a snapshot of some of the important changes regarding the need for Ontario Employers to have a Disconnecting from Work Policy in place. If you need help navigating these changes, Synergy is happy to assist. Feel free to call us at any time, we are happy to answer your questions to ensure your business continues to move forward.