Disconnecting from Work Policy

 

Insight Productions Ltd., including its affiliates and subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) is committed to supporting the health and well-being of our employees. This policy has been established to promote employee wellness, minimize excessive sources of work stress, and ensure that employees find a reasonable balance between their work commitments and personal lives.

This Disconnecting from Work Policy (the “Policy”) demonstrates the Company’s commitment to encourage and assist employees in having uninterrupted time away from work to meet their personal needs. The Policy shall be implemented on June 2, 2022.

The Policy is adopted in compliance with the requirements of the Employment Standards Act (“ESA”) to have a written policy in place with respect to disconnecting from work. 

SCOPE AND APPLICABILITY

 The Policy applies to all employees of the Company in Canada. Nothing in the Policy impacts the rights of employees who may be receiving a specific accommodation from the Company under applicable human rights legislation. 

DEFINITIONS

 “Communicating” or “communication” means contact by telephone calls, video calls, email, text, or any other form of electronic or non-electronic contact. 

“Disconnecting from work” means not engaging in work-related communications or reviewing of other messages, so as to be free from the performance of work. 

“Regular working hours” as defined in individual employment agreements, collective agreements, policy or as otherwise directed by the Company. 

POLICY

General Guidelines

The Company believes a healthy balance between time at work and personal time is important for our employees’ overall productivity and well-being. This policy is intended to promote that balance by specifically detailing the Company’s expectations related to disconnecting from work. To this end, employees, including managers, should make every effort to conduct their communications during regular working hours, whenever possible. A joint approach between managers and employees is necessary to promote a productive work environment and a positive work-life balance. Accordingly, the following considerations should be taken into account when applying this Policy: 

  • Employees and their managers should discuss work flow and work expectations with respect to regular working hours, and employees’ availability outside of regular working hours. 
  • Employees are encouraged to take their vacation time (if any) during the year. 
  • It is important to respect each other’s time and recognize that employees can have different work patterns, and regular working hours may differ. 
  • From time-to-time, there may be situations where it is necessary to contact colleagues, clients, or customers outside of regular working hours, including but not limited to: 
    • Scheduling or checking the availability of employees. 
    • To fill in on short notice for a sick colleague or due to staffing shortages. 
    • Where unforeseeable circumstances may arise, including urgent matters or emergencies. 
    • Where business and operational reasons require communication outside of regular working hours.

When this occurs, employees should take the following into consideration:

    • Whether there is an immediate need for a response. If not, avoid sending communication tagged as high priority. 
    • Choose the least disruptive manner of communication in relation to the urgency of the matter (for example an urgent matter may require a phone call or email tagged as high priority).
    • Avoid sending communications during non-working hours (e.g. weekends, vacation or public holidays), unless the matter is urgent or requires immediate attention. When possible, use the ‘delay send’ option for emails sent during non-working hours. 
    • Be mindful of time differences for those in different time zones.
    • Avoid contact using personal emails or phone numbers, unless necessary due to an urgent situation or if this has been identified as the method of normal contact for work related matters.

The Company recognizes that employees may want or need to work outside their regular working hours to meet time-sensitive deadlines, attend to urgent matters, or to allow for a flexible work environment. If this is the case, employees are encouraged to conduct themselves in accordance with this Policy. 

Company Obligations

  • To have a written policy in place for all employees with respect to disconnecting from work, including the date the policy was prepared, and the date any changes were made to the policy. 
  • To provide a copy of the written policy with respect to disconnecting from work to each employee within 30 days of preparing the policy, or if an existing written policy is changed, within 30 days of the changes being made. 
  • To encourage employees to discuss this Policy with their manager or supervisor, and expectations around availability outside of regular working hours. 

Employee Obligations

  • To ensure the efficient and productive use of working time, while making reasonable efforts to promote a harmonious and positive work-life balance. 
  • To cooperate with any recording methods that the Company uses in order to record working time and accurately report hours in this regard. 
  • To be mindful of colleagues’ ability to disconnect outside of regular working hours. 
  • To communicate any concern related to disconnecting from work to their immediate manager or supervisor. 
  • To ensure contact information with the Company is up to date for the purposes of communication outside of regular working hours. 

Management Obligations

  • To communicate the Company’s expectations to employees regarding their availabilityduring and outside of regular working hours, including with respect to general and specificavailability expectations (e.g. in the event of a pressing or urgent business need, operationalconcerns, or in emergencies, etc.).
  • To discuss any concerns by an employee regarding their ability to effectively disconnect from work outside of regular working hours.
  • To apprise senior management of any issues arising in relation to the implementation and effectiveness of this Policy.

Communications

Where and if possible, communications should be sent during regular working hours, while appreciating that where work patterns differ, some employees may send communications at a time that may not be convenient to another (e.g. if employees’ regular work times differ). 

Complaints or Concerns

Employees with concerns about this Policy are encouraged to contact their immediate manager or supervisor, or Rahmiel Rothenberg (rrothenberg@insighttv.com). 

Modifications

This policy will prevail subject to any modifications provided in writing to an employee by an individual production which such employee is performing services on (e,g. an affiliate or subsidiary of Insight Productions Ltd.).