Provincial government proposes legislation to protect remote workers during mass layoffs

The Ontario government says it is looking to tighten the rules around mass layoffs, specifically for remote workers who currently may not receive the same benefits as those who work in-office.

On Monday, the provincial government said the proposed changes will aid in “preventing companies from taking advantage” of these employees.

Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development was joined by Kitchener South-Hespeler MPP Jess Dixon and MPP for Kitchener-Conestoga Mike Harris for the announcement at Communitech in Kitchener – an area where several tech companies have recently seen mass layoffs.

“Currently, our employment laws treat remote workers as second class, meaning they don’t receive the enhanced severance payments that their in-office colleagues do during mass layoffs,” said McNaughton during the news conference in Kitchener on Monday. “This is wrong, and we’re going to fix it.”

McNaughton said if the proposed legislation is passed, the mass layoff entitlements will be extended to employees who solely work from home.

This means remote employees would also receive the same eight-week minimum notice of termination or pay-in-lieu, and in some cases, increase their severance package.

“More people are working remotely than ever before. In the fourth quarter of 2022, 1.4 million workers were working exclusively from home, and another 800,000 were working via hybrid model. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Waterloo, one of the biggest technology hubs outside Silicon Valley,” said McNaughton.

Ontario’s Employment Standards Act (ESA) applies when 50 or more employees at an establishment are terminated within a four-week period.

The employees are entitled to varying amounts of notice depending on how many workers are being terminated.

The proposed legislation would also see added protections for new employees, including information in writing about their pay, work hours and work location prior to their first shift.

McNaughton said it is expected this legislation will be presented in the coming weeks.

MASS LAYOFFS ACROSS WATERLOO REGION

While it is not clear if recently announced mass layoffs in Waterloo region impacted remote workers, tech companies in the region have shed staff in the past few months.

Notably, the tech giant Google announced last month it would be laying off 12,000 employees.

It was not clear how many Google employees were laid off locally.

In November last year, Communitech announced it had laid off 10 per cent of its workforce.

Weeks earlier, Kitchener-based education tech company D2L announced a mass layoff laid off around 5 per cent of its workforce – including 16 employees in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge.

At the time, the tech company issued a brief statement saying it believes these changes will enable it to achieve continued success within the current economic environment.