What if it’s illegal for your boss to bother you after hours?

The law would require employers with 25 or more workers to develop work disconnection policies, which could include expectations for email response times and encourage employees to turn on absence notifications when they are not working. .

At a press conference Monday, Monte McNaughton, the provincial Minister of Labor, Training and Skills Development, said he did not want Ontario to become a province of exhausted workers.

“The lines between family time and working time have become blurred,” he said. “Everyone should be able to unplug at the end of their working day.”

But Linda Duxbury, an expert on work-life balance, said such legislation could actually contribute to the problem. This is because employees will still have to do their jobs, even if they cannot send emails after working hours.

“A rule that says you can’t do something after a while will add stress,” she said.

Duxbury suggested that a key way to help employees achieve work-life balance is to make sure they aren’t overwhelmed with work.

According to a online survey Conducted in April by accounting firm KPMG, nearly half of 1,000 Canadian employees surveyed said their workload was heavier than it was before the pandemic. Over 30 percent said they’re so overworked they’re about to burn out.

“The workloads have become astronomical,” said Duxbury. “We just don’t have enough staff or people to do the work required, which means the work is seeping into our evenings and weekends.”

Ottawa explores the “right to disconnect”

The issue of the right to log off after work hours has become a hot topic for workers around the world, as mobile technologies, email and stage work have helped blur the lines between being “in” and “out of office.

In 2016, France has passed legislation that gives employees the right to log off and not take business calls or respond to e-mails after working hours.

But in Canada, the Labor Code currently do not address limit work-related electronic communications (such as email) after you quit smoking.

Federal government says he is engaged developing a “right to disconnect” policy for federally regulated workers to improve work-life balance.

As part of the process, the government recently invited Canadians to participate in a online consultation to share their views on the subject.

“There is still work to be done to ensure that the [labour] standards keep pace with the rapid pace of change driven by digital communications technology, ”said former Minister of Labor Filomena Tassi in a press release in March.

WATCH | Ontario is proposing a right to disconnect law:

Ontario proposes law on the right to disconnect for workers

The Ontario government has proposed legislation giving workers the right to log off, saying it would help achieve a better work-life balance. But countries that have implemented similar policies, including France, say having “staggered” hours has not solved the problem. 2:00

But Duxbury said limiting the hours workers can read and respond to emails won’t necessarily help create a work-life balance. Instead, she said workers need both a manageable workload and the flexibility to be able to address their email inbox when it suits them.

“For a lot of people… they’d rather take time out for the nine to five days and deal with… their childcare issues, then send the email when their kids fall asleep.”

How a workplace does it

Despite the absence of legislation in Canada, some companies have voluntarily created policies granting employees the right to log off.

At Edelman, a global communications company with 250 Canadian employees, workers are encouraged not to respond to emails between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.

The company first introduced the policy to its Canadian offices in 2013 and then rolled it out globally in 2019 under the policy name “Edelman Dusk to Dawn”.

Edelman also reminded employees of his policy in the early days of COVID-19 as people started working from home.

“We really want to encourage this space, because when you have a little bit of recharge, you will actually be a better version of yourself for our customers,” said Bianca Boyd, COO at Edelman Canada.

But she said there was also flexibility built in for workers who would prefer to send emails at odd times because they also face other demands during the day. In these cases, employees should indicate why they are sending emails at the time and when they expect a response.

“It’s about creating that culture where it’s okay to turn off. And then there’s also a certain built-in flexibility, which makes sense for the way people work today,” Boyd said.

She also said that Edelman has put in place ways to help employees manage their workload, such as holding “Focus Fridays” when no meetings are scheduled so people have time to. complete their work.

But even with a “right to log out” policy in place, Boyd admits that avoiding emailing after hours isn’t an easy task in our 24/7 work culture.

“I really try to send urgent emails only after 7pm,” she said. “I really practiced saying, ‘Okay, I’m going to answer that tomorrow morning. You don’t need to answer it right now.'”