Remote Work and Return-to-Office Rights in Ontario

Your employer can require you to return to the office in Ontario when the requirement is consistent with your employment terms and human rights obligations. But ending an agreed remote or hybrid arrangement can sometimes amount to constructive dismissal and give you a claim for severance.

Ontario law does not give every employee an automatic right to work from home. Your rights depend on your contract, what your employer agreed to, how the arrangement developed and whether you need accommodation for a disability or another protected reason.

Before accepting a major change, refusing a return-to-office instruction or resigning, speak with the Ontario employment lawyers at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.

This guide focuses on non-unionized employees in provincially regulated Ontario workplaces. Different rules apply to federally regulated employers, such as banks and airlines. For a broader overview, see our guide to return-to-office mandates in Canada.

On This Page:

• 1. Return-to-Office Rules
• 2. Remote & Hybrid Agreements
• 3. Constructive Dismissal
• 4. Disability & Family Needs
• 5. Refusing to Return & Severance
• 6. What You Should Do
• 7. Other Remote-Work Rights
• 8. Frequently Asked Questions

Sometimes, yes—but not simply because the employer announces a new policy. The starting point is whether office attendance is consistent with the employment arrangement that applies to you.

An employer has a stronger position when your contract identifies an office as your workplace, remote work was clearly temporary, or your agreement gives the employer an enforceable right to change your work location.

The situation can be different when you were hired specifically for a remote role, negotiated a particular hybrid schedule or received approval for a permanent work-from-home arrangement. Any disability or other protected accommodation need must also be considered.

Is there an Ontario law requiring everyone to return to the office?

No. Ontario’s public-service office-attendance policy is not a blanket law requiring every Ontario employee to work in an office. The provincial government’s announcement concerns its public service and specified provincial public bodies.

For other workplaces, assess the employer’s requirement against your own employment terms and the laws that apply to your job. Another organization’s policy does not determine your rights.

Remote or hybrid work can be a binding employment term when it forms part of the arrangement you and your employer agreed to. That agreement is not always limited to a signed contract.

Relevant evidence can include:

• A job offer describing the position as fully remote or hybrid.
• A contract or separate agreement identifying where you will work.
• Emails or discussions confirming an ongoing work-from-home arrangement.
• The employer’s approval of a move away from the office.
• How the arrangement operated over time, including any stated limits or right to recall you.

Have your Ontario employment contract reviewed alongside those communications. A policy introduced later does not automatically replace an existing contractual promise.

Can your employer change a hybrid schedule to five days in the office?

It depends on whether your hybrid schedule is an agreed employment term or an arrangement the employer is entitled to change.

Ending guaranteed remote days can be more significant than adjusting a schedule under a genuinely flexible policy. However, not every increase in office attendance amounts to constructive dismissal. The nature and extent of the change must be assessed.

Yes, in some circumstances. A substantial change to an essential employment term, imposed without contractual authority or your agreement, can amount to constructive dismissal in Ontario.

For example, requiring full-time office attendance may raise a claim when the employer had agreed that you could perform the role remotely. Your position may also be affected by accompanying changes to pay, hours, duties or location.

The question is not simply whether returning is inconvenient or unwanted. It is whether the employer has made a sufficiently serious, unauthorized change to the job you agreed to perform.

How much notice must an employer give before requiring a return?

There is no single return-to-office notice period that settles every situation. Your contract, the proposed change and how the employer implements it matter.

Advance notice may be relevant, but a letter giving you a few weeks or months to return does not automatically make a change enforceable. Have the notice reviewed before assuming either that it resolves the issue or that you can ignore it.

What if returning creates a much longer commute?

A major new commute can be relevant, especially when remote work was an agreed term or the employer approved a move knowing you would continue working remotely.

Moving farther away on your own while a temporary arrangement was in place does not automatically require your employer to make remote work permanent. Travel costs or inconvenience alone do not establish constructive dismissal.

Read our guide to changes to your work location in Ontario.

Yes. Remote or hybrid work can be an appropriate accommodation for a disability, family-status need or another protected reason. A blanket attendance policy does not remove an employer’s duty to accommodate in Ontario.

Your employer must assess the individual need and consider accommodation to the point of undue hardship. Possible arrangements include remote days, adjusted hours, workplace modifications or a gradual transition.

Disability and medical restrictions

A physical or mental health disability may affect your ability to commute or work in a particular environment. Explain the disability-related barriers and request an accommodation assessment rather than presenting the issue only as a preference for working from home.

Your employer may reasonably need medical information about your limitations, ability to perform the job and accommodation needs. It is not automatically entitled to your diagnosis or complete medical history.

A medical recommendation should connect the requested arrangement to your restrictions. A note recommending remote work does not, by itself, resolve whether another effective accommodation is available.

Childcare and eldercare responsibilities

A return-to-office requirement that interferes with a protected caregiving responsibility may trigger family-status accommodation. That requires an individual assessment—not an assumption that every parent can stay home or that caregiving is always a private problem.

Describe the caregiving conflict, the timing involved and why the proposed schedule creates a barrier. Discuss practical alternatives, such as different start times or a modified attendance schedule.

Must your employer approve your preferred arrangement?

Not necessarily. You are entitled to appropriate accommodation, not automatically your preferred solution. Participate in the process and consider effective alternatives that respect your needs.

If the return date arrives before the assessment is complete, ask for an interim arrangement and clarify expectations in writing. Do not assume the request automatically suspends all attendance requirements.

Yes, a return-to-office dispute can lead to dismissal. However, whether the dismissal is lawful and whether you are owed compensation are separate questions.

Refusing a lawful instruction can lead to discipline and, in sufficiently serious circumstances, dismissal for cause. But your employer does not establish cause simply by labelling your response “insubordination.”

The employer’s authority to require the change, your reasons for objecting, any accommodation needs, warnings and your overall response all matter. Ontario’s statutory exceptions to termination and severance pay also have their own requirements.

What severance could you receive?

If you are dismissed without cause, you may be owed notice or termination pay, statutory severance where eligible, and greater compensation under your contract or common law.

For many non-unionized employees, the full package can represent months of compensation. Your age, position, length of service, employment contract and availability of comparable work all affect the assessment.

Learn about severance pay in Ontario. If your employer provides less than you are legally owed, you may have a wrongful dismissal claim.

Paying a package does not make a discriminatory or otherwise prohibited dismissal lawful.

What if your employer says “return or resign”?

Do not send a resignation simply because the employer presents those as your only options. Ask for the direction in writing and have it reviewed promptly.

If the letter says failing to attend will be treated as a resignation or job abandonment, do not assume that wording settles the legal issue. At the same time, do not ignore the deadline or stop communicating.

Get the details, preserve your records and obtain advice before making an irreversible decision.

1. Request the requirements in writing. Confirm the start date, office location, required days and any changes to hours, duties or pay.
2. Gather your employment documents. Keep your offer, contract, remote-work agreements, policies and relevant approval emails that you are lawfully entitled to retain.
3. Explain accommodation needs promptly. Identify any disability-related or protected caregiving barrier and ask how the employer will assess it.
4. Raise concerns without resigning. If you disagree with a major change, get advice on communicating your position and whether to continue working under the proposed arrangement.
5. Do not simply stop attending or answering messages. If you cannot comply, explain why, request interim direction and seek advice promptly.
6. Review new agreements before signing. Check for changes to work location, compensation and termination terms—not just the number of remote days.

Can you negotiate a hybrid or transition arrangement?

Yes. A proposal might involve fewer office days, adjusted start times, a closer office or a phased transition. Put any approved arrangement in writing, including its duration and review terms.

Keep a request for flexibility distinct from a request for human rights accommodation. A protected accommodation need requires an assessment; it is not simply a request for a perk.

Working remotely does not remove the employment protections that otherwise apply to your job. Your work location and your basic employment rights are separate issues.

Pay, hours and breaks

Applicable rights to wages, overtime, rest periods, eating periods, vacation and public holidays continue when you work from home. Job-specific exemptions still matter.

Keep a record of your working time, including required work outside your usual schedule. Being at home does not automatically make that work unpaid.

Electronic monitoring

Employers covered by Ontario’s ESA with 25 or more Ontario employees on January 1 must have a written electronic-monitoring policy in place before March 1. It must explain whether monitoring occurs and, if so, how, in what circumstances and for what purposes.

The requirement can apply to monitoring at home, not just in an office. However, the electronic-monitoring policy rules do not themselves create a right to refuse monitoring or override other applicable privacy obligations.

Disconnecting after work

The same 25-employee threshold applies to Ontario’s requirement for a written disconnecting-from-work policy. This requirement does not itself give every employee a general right to ignore work communications after a particular time.

Your employer’s policy and the employment standards applying to hours, rest and pay must be considered separately. See Ontario’s disconnecting-from-work guidance.

Home-office equipment and expenses

Check your contract, remote-work agreement and expense policy before assuming equipment, internet or other costs will be reimbursed. Ask for written approval before making a substantial purchase for work.

Equipment needed for disability accommodation should be addressed through the accommodation process, rather than treated only as an ordinary expense request.

Can your employer reduce your salary if you stay remote?

Working remotely does not automatically authorize a reduction in your agreed pay. A substantial imposed pay cut can raise a separate constructive dismissal issue. Have a proposal for “remote work at lower pay” reviewed before accepting it.

What if other employees are allowed to keep working from home?

Different arrangements are not automatically unlawful. Employees may have different duties, contracts or accommodation needs. However, a difference based on a protected characteristic, or a failure to assess your own accommodation needs, can raise a human rights concern.

Can you work remotely from another province or country?

Permission to work from home does not necessarily mean permission to work from anywhere. Review your agreement and obtain any required approval before relocating. See our guide to working remotely from another province.

Do remote employees count in an Ontario mass termination?

Fully remote employees can be included under Ontario’s establishment rules for mass terminations. Do not assume that working from home excludes you from enhanced notice protections. Read our guide to mass termination in Ontario.

Being told to change where you work can affect your income, commute, health and family responsibilities. You do not have to rely only on your employer’s explanation of your options.

Samfiru Tumarkin LLP helps non-unionized employees across Ontario assess remote-work agreements, return-to-office requirements, accommodation issues and severance offers.

We can review your contract and the proposed change, explain your position and help you decide how to respond. Where appropriate, we can negotiate an alternative arrangement or pursue the compensation you are owed.

Before you sign, always check first. Get advice before accepting new employment terms, sending a resignation or signing a severance release.