As we reported in a previous newsletter in 2021, the Government of
Ontario has amended the Employment Standards Act, 2000
(the "ESA") to prohibit businesses from
entering into non-compete agreements, absent two very narrow
exceptions, and is requiring employers to take steps in 2022 to
prepare mandatory right-to-disconnect policies in an attempt to
establish parameters on after-hours workplace communications.
Despite these amendments, employers have received little clarity
on certain elements of the new obligations. For example, there was
minimal information or guidance available to employers as to
whether non-competition clauses entered into prior to October 25,
2021, were automatically void and, in regard to mandatory
right-to-disconnect policies, employers were left in the dark as to
what the policy should include.
