Burlington Adopting New 'Right to Disconnect From Work' Policy for Staff
At our May 17 meeting, Burlington City Council received a report from staff outlining the City's new 'Right to Disconnect From Work' policy for employees.Click the links below for the:
- Staff report: HR-05-22 Right to Disconnect Policy - Staff Report
- Appendices:
MY TAKE:I wholeheartedly support City staff's right to disconnect from work. We know mental health has been a significant parallel pandemic to COVID-19. I know this was a legislative requirement by the Province and so I think this policy at the municipal level is completely appropriate. I’m glad it applies to all staff and volunteers, and has exceptions for emergencies. It takes a real effort to disconnect from work, so I encourage staff to take time to rest, relax and spend time with their families. This will help us in reaching an appropriate work/life balance. Glad to see this here at Burlington City Hall.
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BACKGROUND:The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted challenges in Ontario’s workplaces, especially for workers who now operate in a virtual environment. The lines between work and home have become significantly blurred. In response, and on December 2, 2021, the Ontario Government passed Bill 27 the Working for Workers Act which included the obligation for employers with 25 or more employees to develop and implement a Disconnect from Work policy by June 1, 2022.While the guidelines from the Province do not contain a lot of detail, we know that the policy needs to include:
- A definition of disconnecting from work. The Employment Standards Act (ESA) defines “disconnecting from work” to mean “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.”
- The City’s expectations, of employees of when it is appropriate to read or reply to.
- How it applies to all staff across the organization.
- The date the policy was prepared and the date any changes were made to the policy.
The City’s policy is attached as Appendix A (see link further up this post). This policy has been discussed with members of the Burlington Leadership team (BLT) and once the policy wording is finalized, a copy must be provided to every employee by June 1st and will be included as part of a new employee package for future employees. In addition, a Toolkit (Appendix B) has been developed for People Leaders to assist them in understanding the new policy and how to apply it to each of their individual workplaces.The City currently has several policies, collective agreement articles and practices it uses to manage the hours of work for our diversified workplaces. This new requirement does not override these policies but instead works alongside it.When developing the policy, the different work arrangements across the City were identified and considered. For example, we have workplaces that use shifts, apply varying hours based on seasonal requirements and flextime and those who follow standard and straight office hours. It is apparent that the application of this policy must be specific to each workplace as one approach cannot be applied across the entire organization. The fundamental need and intent of the legislation is for each workplace to understand the standard operating hours for each role and respect the employee’s right to disconnect outside of those hours.