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01-011 Right to Disconnect Policy (Policy Number Duplicated)1-011 Page 1 of 6 CATEGORY Policy 1 -0 11: Right to Disconnect Policy Approval Date: June 16, 2022 Approval Authority: Council, Resolution # 2022-198 Effective Date: June 2, 2022 Next Scheduled Review Year: 2023 Department: Human Resources Last reviewed: Month, DD, YYYY Revision Date/s: Schedules: POLICY STATEMENT The health and wellbeing of our employees is of the utmost importance to us, and we, the Town of Tillsonburg, encourage and support our employees in prioritizing their own wellbeing. Work-related pressure and the inability to disconnect from work can lead to stress, deterioration of mental health, impacts on family or personal relationships and overall well-being. In light of the current landscape of work, an employee’s work environment or location, and ongoing work commitments, employees may feel obligated or choose to continue to perform their job duties outside their normal working hours. The Town of Tillsonburg is committed to supporting our employees in balancing their working and personal lives. This policy has been established to support employee wellness, minimize excessive sources of stress related to work or workload, and ensure that employees have the ability to disconnect from their work outside their normal work day. SCOPE This policy applies to all employees for the Town of Tillsonburg and excludes members of Town Council. 1-011 Page 2 of 6 ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES Role of the Employee: • All employees regardless of their position are responsible for understanding the intent of this policy and following the guidelines it contains. • Manage their working time while at work. • Take reasonable care to protect their safety, health and welfare, and the health and safety of co-workers. • Be mindful of co-workers, and all others, right to disconnect. • Be conscious of their work pattern and aware of their work-related well-being, and remedy if necessary. • If unable to disconnect, discuss with their Manager/Supervisor Role of Management • All employees in a supervisory role are responsible for working with their team to establish work practices that support the Right to Disconnect Policy. • Ensure the employees within their team are able to disconnect from work outside of normal working hours. • Be mindful of times emails are sent and should they notice that a member of their team is sending emails at odd hours or are logging in excessively, they should speak to the employee as soon as possible, as this may indicate they are finding it difficult to manage their workload during normal working hours. • The senior leadership team is responsible for enforcing this policy, and for mediating any conflicts that may arise between staff and supervisors. DEFINITIONS Disconnecting Not engaging in work-related communications, including emails, From work telephone calls, video calls, or the sending or reviewing of other messages, so as to be free from performing work. Normal work day The typical number of hours an employee is scheduled for in a work day. A normal work day varies by employee, position, and/or department. An employee’s 1-011 Page 3 of 6 normal hour of work are set out in their employment contract and/or applicable collective agreement. Due to the nature of their position, some employees are afforded flexibility in working hours and location, which may occasionally affect their normal work hours in a day. For example, an employee attends a personal appointment during their regular work day, but subsequently works past their normal end time to account for time spent at the personal appointment. For the purposes of this policy, the employee’s normal work day would be considered extended accordingly. PROCEDURE 1.0 Employees have the right to disconnect from their work outside of their normal working day without fear of reprisal. Employees are encouraged to set clear boundaries between their work and personal lives. 2.0 The right to disconnect means that employees: 2.1 Can and should stop performing their job duties and work-related tasks when they are not expected to work; 2.2 Are not expected or required to respond to work-related communication outside their regular working hours, while on break, or during any paid or unpaid time off; 2.3 Are encouraged to utilize their scheduled breaks and time off entitlements for non-work related activities; and 2.4 Will not face repercussion or be penalized for not communicating or continuing to work outside of their regular working hours. 3.0 Employees must also be respectful of others’ right to disconnect and should not expect others to respond, communicate, or complete work outside of their normal work day. 4.0 Where employees are required to work outside of their normal work day, they will be entitled to compensation either in the form of banked lieu time or overtime in accordance with their Collective Agreement or the Personnel Policy. 5.0 Employees who, on a regular basis, cannot manage their workload during their regularly scheduled hours should meet with their direct supervisor/manager to evaluate their current workload, priorities, and due dates. Managers/supervisors will work with employees to come up with a solution to ensure regular job duties can be completed during their normal work day. 1-011 Page 4 of 6 6.0 Meetings 6.1 Where possible, meetings should be scheduled during regular business hours, or normal working hours if the attendees have work schedules outside of regular business hours. 6.2 Those organizing meetings should be mindful of the time of those whom they are inviting to attend, and ensure that those invited will play an active role and have something to contribute to the matters being discussed. 7.0 Communication 7.1 Employees should recognize that there is no organizational expectation of immediate response outside of their normal work day, and they retain the right to disconnect at the end of their normal work day. 7.2 Employees may feel obligated to send or respond to messages when not working. On occasion communication may be sent to employees when they are not working, such as on an employee’s day off or scheduled vacation. Employees are not expected to read or respond to any organizational communication when not at work, with the exception of unforeseen circumstances, such as an emergency. 7.3 It may be necessary to communicate with or forward important information to an employee who is not working. If employees do send communications to others who are not at work, they should not expect a response until the other employee returns. If the matter is urgent or an emergency and requires an immediate response from a colleague, employees must reach out to their manager/supervisor, or other management designate, if their manager/supervisor is also away from work. 8.0 Exceptions 8.1 The Town of Tillsonburg understands that employees may want or need to work outside their normal work day to meet a time-sensitive deadline, to attend to an urgent or emergency matter, or due to unforeseen circumstances; however, employees are not required to regularly or frequently work outside their scheduled hours to complete or catch up on work. 8.2 Some employees are required to participate in an on-call/standby rotation in accordance with the Personnel Policy or their Collective Agreement. For the purposes of this policy, an employee being compensated to be on stand- by/on-call does not have the right to disconnect from work related to the reasons for being on-call (communication unrelated to being on-call may be addressed during normal working hours). 1-011 Page 5 of 6 8.3 Work-related communications that employees are expected to respond to outside of normal working hours include those related to shift scheduling, arrangements for off-shift meetings or arranging a return to work if employees have been out of the workplace for a period of time. 9.0 Time Away From Work 9.1 The Town of Tillsonburg understands the importance for employees to have time off away from work including breaks, meal breaks, and vacation to recharge and resume their work productively and safely. Employees should use their annual vacation time in accordance with their Collective Agreement or the Personnel Policy for rest, relaxation, and personal pursuits. 9.2 At least one week in advance of a scheduled vacation, employees should discuss with their supervisor any job duties that need to be completed while the employee is on vacation. Managers/supervisors will work with employees to delegate job-specific duties that must be completed maintain workflow and productivity. Employees should not be reluctant to take vacation due to workload, unless there are limitations or restrictions because of a due date, project priority, scheduling conflict, unforeseen circumstance or other urgent operational need that prevent an employee from taking a vacation at a specific time requested. 10.0 Productivity Working additional hours does not always equate to higher productivity. Employees can maximize their productivity during their work day by using time management strategies, such as: 10.1 Blocking off periods in their schedule and calendar to complete specific tasks or address communication; 10.2 Working with their manager to organize work in order of priority or importance; 10.3 Breaking down projects and tasks into manageable chunks; 10.4 Setting goals to work continuously for a specified period before taking a break or responding to communication. 1-011 Page 6 of 6 11.0 Reporting Concerns 11.1 All employees are expected and required to report any concerns or issues they may have which they feel is impacting their ability to disconnect-from- work. 11.2 Employees should report such concerns or issues, in writing, to their immediate supervisor. If that is not appropriate or the matter cannot be resolved by doing so, employees should direct their concerns or issues to Human Resources. 11.3 Employees will not be subject to reprisal for reporting such concerns as outlined above. 12.0 Posting, Notice, and Retention 12.1 A copy of this Policy shall be provided to each employee of the Town of Tillsonburg within 30 calendar days of implementation. Should any changes be made to the Policy after its implementation, the Town of Tillsonburg shall provide each employee a copy of the revised Policy within 30 days of the changes being made. 12.2 The Town shall provide a copy of this Policy to all new employees upon onboarding and within 30 calendar days of the employee commencing employment. 12.3 This policy will be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure relevance and adherence with provincial legislations. It is subject to updates, changes, and cancellation at any time without advance notice to employees.