Bettina Burgess
Partner
Article
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To unpack how Ontario's new "Right to Disconnect" legislation impacts employers across the province, last month lawyers from Gowling WLG's Employment, Labour & Equalities Group hosted an instructive webinar exploring the legislation in depth – including a look at how similar legislation has been implemented in other countries. This webinar is now available on demand.
Below we answer 20 key questions that our guests asked during the course of the presentation.
A: ALL types of employees who physically work in Ontario as defined by the Employment Standards Act, 2000 ("ESA".)
Anyone who meets the definition of "employee" under the ESA is counted. This includes employees with the following status: part-time, full-time, flex-time, casual, fixed-term (regardless of the length of the term), on leave, on layoff, suspended, probationary, on strike/lockout, some trainees, and students unless they are performing work under a program approved by a college of applied arts and technology or university, a work program that is approved by a private career college registered under the Private Career Colleges Act, 2005, or a work experience program authorized by the school board that operates the school in which the student is enrolled.
Independent contractors are not included in the count, but be aware that if they are misclassified, they would be counted as an employee.
For specific advice, please contact your qualified legal counsel before making any decisions or taking any action.
If you would like to discuss this article further or have any questions, please contact the authors or a member of our Employment, Labour & Equalities Group.
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