Canadian HR Reporter Weekly

3 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 September 12, 2018 "To the extent that people feel it's unfair that they have to work outside of regular work hours — whatever those mean anymore — that sense of unfairness is bad in any organization," he said. "Legislative changes probably pop up because if it's left to companies or organizations to address these issues on their own, they might not. It's a pretty big cultural shift." Limits of regulation e efficacy of the proposed regulations surrounding the right to disconnect is a critical consideration for the federal government, said Kendra Strauss, director of the labour studies program at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. "It's one thing to mandate that employers can't require people to look at their emails, (but) if people have heavy workloads, they may feel that it's necessary to look at their email and that's really something that is very hard to legislate against," she said. "What the government is probably trying to weigh up is that having legislation, or having a regulatory framework, means that people cannot be required to effectively do paid work outside of their contracted hours of work. What it would prevent employers and employees from doing is requiring excess work outside of normal working hours beyond what's been agreed." However, companies with continuous operations could be affected detrimentally, said Henry. "If they are going to implement a right to disconnect, then they would need to at least build in some exemptions for these industries where the nature of the work essentially requires an employee to be scheduled last minute or to be available 24-7," she said. "I think there is enough legislation that provides the protections that are needed… You don't have to go another step and say, 'Employees, you now have a right to not answer your phone if your employer calls, if it's after five o'clock.' I think that's a bit much because you look at the issue of flexibility, but you also look at it from the business standpoint." "It would be, in my view, an over-regulation, because there are other ways that it could be addressed," said Henry. "ey don't need to have an actual rule saying, 'An employee has a right to refuse to pick up a phone after hours or to refuse to answer email.' I think that's overstepping just a little bit, and not recognizing that we need that flexibility because of the nature of the workplace nowadays." Many progressive employers already offer employees a work-from-home policy to promote work-life balance, she said. "ere is that sort of fluidity that we're seeing in a lot of workplaces, and what I would be concerned about is that the right to disconnect sort of inhibits that. It's a give and take, and I think that implementing a rule or any provision that says you have a right to disconnect may not be helpful, or at least it may not have the intended purpose that it's meant to achieve at the end." Striking a balance Future regulatory changes should strive to chart a middle ground, said Strauss. "ere has to be a balance within society between the needs of employers and the needs of employees to be able to have a decent standard of living in the society in which they live," she said. "I do think that these kinds of changes could create more regulation around some of these issues to do with scheduling and flexibility for employers… (but) there are two sides to this." "Where employers are looking to work with employees to make flexibility work for both parties, this could help create a more level playing field for employers who want that positive relationship with employees," said Strauss. "at should not be underplayed — that this could benefit both parties if implemented constructively." HR professionals in the federal sector would be wise to review current policy surrounding issues such as personal leave, and ensure it has the flexibility to incorporate the new legislative changes, said Henry. "Most employers are providing more than minimum standard." If they are going to implement a right to disconnect, then they would need to build in some exemptions." Credit: Jacob Lund (Shutterstock) If people have heavy workloads, they may feel it's necessary to look at their email after hours, and that's very hard to legislate against, said Kendra Strauss, direct of labour studies at Simon Fraser University.

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