While Ontario’s recently enacted workplace legislation includes a requirement employers develop a policy related to the right to disconnect after work, as well as a prohibition – with some exceptions – on non-compete agreements, these standards were already available to many workers under the Employment Standards Act (ESA) and common-law, say lawyers.
Ontario’s Working for Workers Act was introduced in October and received Royal Assent Dec. 2. Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, Monte McNaughton, said the changes would “rebalance the scales and put workers in the driver’s seat,” attract talent to the province and ensure “labour laws keep pace with the acceleration of new technology, automation and remote work.”
