Laptops, emails on cellphones and remote work… We now live in a world where we are expected to always be connected, no matter where we are, which make setting boundaries difficult.
Even though the pandemic brought popularity to this term, many countries have been talking about the right to disconnect for years now.
The official definition of the right to disconnect is : “not engaging in work-related communications, including emails, telephone calls, video calls or the sending or reviewing of other messages, so as to be free from the performance of work.”
At first glance, you might think implementing a Right to disconnect policy in your company would be simple … So why is it that the new Ontario legislation makes it anything but simple for employers to draft a Right to disconnect policy?
The Right to Disconnect in Canada
Quebec Solidaire introduced a “Right to disconnect” bill in June 2020… And then came back with the Bill 799 in December 2021. The bill hasn’t passed yet, but QS would like companies with more than 100 employees to create “Right to disconnect” policies in partnerships with their employees. QS would also implement stiff fines of up to $100,000 for non-compliant employers.
In the province of Ontario, the Bill 27 states that employers with 25+ employees must have a right to disconnect policy. The law stops there as Ontario hasn’t given more details or guidelines with respect to this regulation.
This leaves Ontario employers wondering what they should do to comply with this legislation before June 2, 2022, the deadline for meeting the act’s requirement.
The benefits of a Right to disconnect policy
If you are outside Ontario, you might be wondering if there really is a need for a Right to disconnect policy. You might think that because you have a great corporate culture, it isn’t necessary. But since the pandemic, many surveys show that remote employees have been working longer hours.
"While remote work affords employees greater flexibility, it also makes disconnecting extremely difficult," said Paul McDonald, senior executive director at a big recruitment agency.
These longer workdays have been linked to higher stress, which, in turn, can cause health problems. A W.H.O. study found that those working more than 55 hours a week have a 35% higher risk of stroke and a 17% higher risk of heart disease compared to those who work 35-40 hours.
These health problems can lead to an increase of absenteeism or burnouts and can raise insurance costs for companies.
Employees are also at risk of being less productive if they are under high levels of stress of fatigue. It can also increase a company turnover rate, as employees who feel the pressure to always be connected tend to seek new opportunities with a better work-life balance. According to Leigh Branham, stress from overwork and work-life imbalance is one of the 7 reasons employees leave.
Read our article about the other reasons employees quit.
What to include in a Right to disconnect policy
If you are an Ontario employer wondering how to prepare for the June 2nd deadline, or if you decided that a right to disconnect policy could be beneficial for your company, the question is: what should be included in such a policy?
The challenge is that, while a right to disconnect policy is designed to protect employees from working too much or being always “on call”, it can also remove some flexibility by imposing a rigid framework with the same working hours for all.
And, as we discovered with the pandemic, many employees like to create their own work schedule depending on their lifestyle. According to a 2021 survey, 76% of employees want flexibility in where they work and 93% want flexibility in when they work.
To create a foolproof right to disconnect policy, we advise that you contact an employment lawyer. But if you want to start thinking about what to include in your policy, here are a few important elements.
Expected work hours: Writing down the expectations about the work schedules of employees can be a good start. If you don’t want to impose a specific schedule to your employees, we advise that you make broader rules.
For example, you could include one or more of the following in your policy:
- An employee is not expected to work more than X hours per days or X hours per weeks.
- Meetings should be scheduled between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. only.
- Meetings shouldn’t be scheduled Monday mornings or Friday afternoons.
- Emails sent before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. should be avoided when possible.
- Employees aren’t expected to answer phone calls or emails between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m.
These examples don’t restrict the employees on their work schedule, but it creates some guidelines on how and when to communicate with coworkers.
Exceptions: Rules are made to be broken, and some specific situations might make it impossible to respect the expected work hours previously stated. That’s why a good right to disconnect policy should include the exceptions, making it OK to contact a coworker outside work hours.
The exceptions should be explained in depth as simply writing “in case of emergency” could be interpreted differently depending on each person’s definition or urgency.
Resources for employees: Do you have an employee wellbeing program, or a mental health support line? Writing down these resources in the right to disconnect policy and explaining what one should do if they feel overwhelmed might reduce stress among your employees.
Your right to disconnect policy should also include what to do if an employee feels the policy is not respected. It’s important to write the policy, but also to put in place the means to enforce it.
In conclusion, employers in Canada, and particularly in Ontario, would benefit from having a Right to disconnect policy, even if the legislation is not final yet.
In today’s job market, these are the details that make you an employer of choice.
If you need HR advice or headhunting services, contact us.
