Project INSIGHTS Report

The Right to Disconnect in Canada’s Post-Pandemic Context

Quality of Work

The Issue

Working from home as a result of the pandemic led to increased connectivity and a blurring of the lines between work and non-work life for many employees. Increasing global collaboration, limited ability to travel for vacations during the pandemic, and increasing expectations from employers to be responsive around the clock, led one French policymaker to describe the situation as “an electronic leash” for workers where they physically leave the office, but remain attached. The impacts are felt more acutely among certain types of workers – specifically women who already perform more unpaid labour at home, and who have been especially challenged by increasing expectations to be available outside of regular work hours. 

This has had a profound impact on the well-being of workers across industries, with many citing increased stress on themselves and their families, and an acknowledgement that overworked employees are more likely to sustain injury, become sick and miss work.

As a result of these negative impacts, many workers began to call for a right to disconnect – meant to allow individuals to disconnect from work and not engage in work-related communication during non-work hours to help improve quality of work, as well as quality of life. Given the global scale of the issue, the World Health Organization called on governments and employers to better protect workers’ health through Right to Disconnect policies. Many support the right to disconnect as it is believed to be crucial in establishing a healthy work-life balance, helping support the physical and mental well-being of employees, and has the potential to reduce the risk of employee burnout by encouraging them to disconnect fully, rest and recover, leading to overall increases in productivity. 

The concept of a Right to Disconnect policy was first implemented in France in 2017, where the government passed a law to protect workers’ right to ignore messages outside of working hours. Following suit, other European countries such as Spain, Ireland and Italy enacted similar laws. 

In Canada, before the pandemic, there was some public support for the right to disconnect and policymakers had been considering options to support workers disconnecting and improving work-life balance, however the proposed legislative changes failed, with opposition to mandated restrictions. The pandemic brought the issue to the foreground again. Given that working from home is likely to remain a feature of work for many in future, Canadian policymakers need to learn from the experiences of other jurisdictions to guide how to best move forward.

What We’re Investigating

This research project conducted a literature review, jurisdictional scan and analysis of survey data from a variety of Canadian and international sources exploring the key legal, policy and operational considerations to implement a Right to Disconnect policy in a Canadian post-pandemic context. 

The project focused on understanding the perspectives and core barriers to implementing the Right to Disconnect policy for three key stakeholder groups: employees, employers and policymakers. 

The project examined policy considerations by identifying factors that led to the need to develop a Right to Disconnect policy and approaches used in Canada and abroad. These included:

• Legal considerations to understand how to define key concepts such as which employees have the right to disconnect, for example only remote workers?
• The impacts on the autonomy of workers and employers; for example, can employees consent to connect and when would employees be required to connect? 
• Operational implications, including how the policies would be implemented and enforced, and how they may impact current policies and employment standards.

What We’re Learning

The Canadian response. While laws in the EU prompted discussion in Canada about the right to disconnect, before the pandemic there was limited movement in Canada to formally create policies or laws. The impact of COVID-19 made this issue more pressing with the government recognizing the importance of work-life balance and re-convening its Right to Disconnect Advisory Committee to guide progress. Ontario became the first province to enact a Right to Disconnect law in Canada, which requires provincially regulated employers in Ontario to have a written “disconnecting from work” policy. The Right to Disconnect Advisory Committee made recommendations in February 2022. The federal government said it planned to present a proposal that would apply to federally regulated workplaces.

Global approaches. There are two main approaches for enacting Right to Disconnect laws and policies based on models in the EU: 

• A government-mandated approach, often referred to as the French Legislative Model, that regulates electronic communications after hours through laws   
• A voluntary self-regulated approach, often referred to as the German Self-Regulatory Model, where companies adopt policies that best suit their workers

Different countries including Spain, Italy and Ireland have borrowed principles from both approaches in implementing their own Right to Disconnect laws and policies. Key operational learnings such as how to best enforce policies can be leveraged by Canadian policymakers. 

Designing and implementing Right to Disconnect policies is complex. In both models, employers require support to identify which employees policies apply to and the impact it may have on other workplace policies. Government-mandated approaches raise enforcement challenges, especially across different geographic regions, and in how each organization should interpret legislation as the right to disconnect has been applied differently to organizations across sectors, size and employment type. Clearly articulating what sectors are eligible, defining non-work hours and who may be exempt, is critical to effectively implementing any policies or legislation on the right to disconnect.

What’s Next

This project is part of Future Skills Centre’s Quality of Work series, which explores different aspects of quality of work and  current challenges in the labour market, including skills and labour shortages across sectors. Part of a comprehensive strategy to improve quality of work will entail ensuring workers in vulnerable employment situations have access to similar rights and benefits as other workers. This includes employment insurance or the right to disconnect and access to upskilling and reskilling initiatives so that people can access better employment opportunities in other occupations and sectors.

The Quality of Work series explores current practice related to compensation and benefits, employment security, work environment, professional growth and social environment for workers, employers and policymakers. FSC is working with funded partners to generate insights across the projects.