Slowly but surely, Canadian provinces are joining Ontario's right-to-disconnect 2022 legislation. This regulation requires employers that employ 25 or more employees to have a written policy on disconnecting from work in place for all employees.
For this reason, we asked our community to tell us what they think of the right-to-disconnect legislation put in place by some Canadian provinces. Here are their answers:
I think it's a good start. The days of thinking we (employees) or employers expecting you to be at their beck and call are changing. Work-life balance! You need to disconnect to connect in a positive, valuable, and meaningful way.
It is great that some provinces are legislating this! I would love to see more employers lead by example with this initiative. This is extremely important for employee wellbeing (and retention).
Balancing your personal and business commitments are key to ensuring healthy environments. Legislation may be needed in some places, but a good employer should show their success by working with their team to find a happy balance for all team members.
The workplace has changed so dramatically in the last couple years, with more people working from home and being accessible by phone or email, I think it is important. Our work culture is so driven and there is an expectation that everything is urgent and requires immediate response. We are all too accessible. Being able to disconnect and separating work life from home life is paramount to our wellbeing. Past generations placed value on having a day of rest. There's something to that.
I think it's integral to employee rights and mental health. If employees feel they cannot disconnect without fear of reprisal it is a detriment to themselves. Everyone needs to be able to separate themselves from their work to focus on their personal lives.
I think it is unfortunate that there is even a need for this legislation. It is, however, encouraging that the governments are supporting workers' mental health and the need to have a balanced lifestyle. I hope all employers take this legislation seriously and implement their own in-house policies, showing they respect employees' time away from work.
Do you agree with them? Let us know in the comments section below.
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3 Comments
It’s great that the legislation has begun to exist! For some employees tho, the bigger difficulty will be in changing their own habits/mindset–for so long, the expectation has been that we must go “above & beyond” for our jobs. A whole generation of workers has grown up with this mindset. Even starting small (i.e. outside of work hours, resist the urge to check work email, let calls roll to voicemail, etc.) is a positive change that can be made. #worklifebalance
2 years agoThank you for highlighting the importance of this subject!
2 years agoThis legislation is essential. During the pandemic, we worked unusual hours and basically were always connected. Now that we are back to the office, we need to change our mindset and managers and take it back to office hours.
1 year ago