Employment lawyer on possible right to disconnect legislation in B.C

Interview Summary

The Ontario government has recently introduced legislation that would limit employers’ ability to communicate and expect employees to work outside of regular work hours. What will this mean for employee rights and employer obligations? Could this legislation be brought to British Columbia?

Mackenzie Irwin, an employment lawyer and Associate at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP joins Jill Bennett at Global News Radio 980 CKNW to discuss the shifting workplace and employee rights.

Interview Notes

What are the difficulties in introducing a right to disconnect legislation?

It is exciting that Ontario has decided to introduce legislation that better protects employee rights and interests. It will be interesting to see how difficult this legislation is to implement. Currently, the legislation only allows for businesses to implement the right to disconnect if they have more than 25 employees.

Can employees currently be reprimanded for not responding to emails outside of work hours?

Currently, employees and employers have to depend on the language and expectations that are outlined in their current employment agreements. If there is no employment contract in place, it will be dependent on whether or not an employee responds to communication outside of regular hours. Employees currently have no option to enforce a right to disconnect and instead have to address it on an individual basis.

With more employees working from home, how do we define what’s outside of work hours?

The pandemic has complicated a lot of employee and employer dynamics. Employees, as well as employers, should maintain what their formal expectations are and do so clearly. Employers who feel their employees are not abiding by certain expectations should document incidents and provide the employee with appropriate warnings.

How could an employer or employee violate the right to disconnect regulations?

Employers and employees should communicate their expectations clearly however, there will need to be more guidance given by legislation. Regardless of the passing of this legislation, it is important for employers to implement policies that outline expectations for employees and what is considered appropriate. Without policies in place, it is more difficult to enforce certain regulations.

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Employee rights while working from home

How could the right to disconnect be enforced in the workplace? Will there be penalties?

It is currently unclear what enforcement will look like for implementing the right to disconnect in workplaces. Without clear guidelines, it will be difficult to ascertain enforcement and penalties.

Is banning non-competition clauses considered significant?

It is very important that legislation is addressing non-compete clauses in employment contracts. Non-compete clauses in general are not enforceable and are very rarely upheld in court. A lot of litigation in the past has been spent trying to enforce non-competition clauses but it is generally a waste of time for both parties.