Bill 990 inserts a new division into Quebec’s Act respecting labour standards that regulates telework. It gives employees the right to perform up to 40% of their working hours as telework when the job permits, obliges employers to agree on a telework plan, requires a written telework policy, sets expense-reimbursement rules, and bars the use of remote monitoring software for management or control.
The bill also creates procedural safeguards and enforcement routes: an employer may require telework only under narrow hiring-condition rules or after authorization from the Commission (CNESST) or mutual agreement with the employee or certified association, and employees can complain to the CNESST with referral to the Administrative Labour Tribunal. For employers and unions this codifies telework expectations and creates new compliance and cost responsibilities; for HR, privacy, and operations teams it changes how performance, costs, and workplace surveillance are managed.
At a Glance
What It Does
Establishes a statutory telework regime: a default cap of 40% telework, a mandatory telework plan and written policy, specific cost-sharing rules for telework-related expenses, and an explicit prohibition on remote monitoring software for managerial control.
Who It Affects
Applies to Quebec employees and employers under the labour standards act, certified associations (unions) negotiating telework plans, HR and payroll teams tasked with expense reimbursements, and CNESST and the Administrative Labour Tribunal handling disputes.
Why It Matters
It moves telework from ad-hoc practice into statutory labour law, reallocates cost responsibilities to employers in many cases, restricts digital surveillance techniques, and sets an administrative enforcement path—so employers must update contracts, policies and budgets while unions gain a statutory negotiating foothold.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill creates a standalone telework division in the labour standards act and opens with a simple definition: telework is work performed using technology outside the employer’s premises. That definitional anchor governs everything that follows — from entitlement thresholds to what counts as reimbursable costs.
On entitlements, the bill guarantees employees the ability to telework up to 40% of their hours when the nature of the work permits it. Employers can require telework only if that requirement was written into the employee’s conditions of employment at hiring and put into effect within the first three months of employment; employees hired before the law comes into force are exempt from that mandatory-requirement rule.
The 40% ceiling can be exceeded if the CNESST authorizes higher levels for a sector after an employer demonstrates sectoral characteristics that justify it, or if the employer and the employee (or certified association) agree.Operational rules flow from that framework. Employers and employees must agree on a telework plan; the employer must publish a telework policy that addresses the plan’s terms, the right to disconnect, the use of work tools, and accommodations for victims of domestic violence.
The bill specifies reimbursement: when an employee claims the right to telework the employer must reimburse 50% of necessary expenses; if telework is a hiring-time requirement the employer must reimburse 100%. The text explicitly treats reasonable internet, ergonomics and telework training fees as necessary expenses and allows the telework plan to list other reimbursable items.Privacy and enforcement rules close the loop.
Employers cannot use remote monitoring software for management or control, although they may visit an employee’s telework site during business hours if they obtain consent and give 24 hours’ notice. Disputes go first to the CNESST by written complaint; the commission investigates under its procedures and can refer matters to the Administrative Labour Tribunal, which must rule within 60 days after filing.
The government can regulate additional policy elements, tailoring requirements by enterprise size and sector.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill entitles employees to telework for up to 40% of their working hours when the job allows telework, establishing a statutory cap rather than guidance.
An employer may require telework only if it was included in the employee’s conditions of employment at hiring and used within three months — a protection for new hires and a limit on retroactive mandates.
Telework beyond 40% is allowed either by mutual agreement (employee or certified association and employer) or by CNESST authorization after the employer demonstrates sectoral suitability.
Employers must reimburse 50% of necessary telework expenses when the employee claims the right to telework and 100% when telework was a hiring-time condition; internet, ergonomics and telework training are explicitly 'necessary expenses.', The bill prohibits employers from using remote monitoring software for management or control and establishes a CNESST complaint route with potential referral to the Administrative Labour Tribunal (decisions due within 60 days).
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Definition of telework
The bill defines 'telework' as work performed using technology outside the employer’s establishment. That simple definition is consequential: it centers the analysis on location plus use of tech, not on formal employment status, meaning mobile work, home offices and other remote setups fall within the division if technology is the enabling factor.
Employee right to telework up to 40%
This provision creates a statutory right to telework up to 40% of working hours when the nature of the job allows. Practically, employers must assess which roles 'enable telework' and apply the percentage rather than treating remote arrangements as purely discretionary, which will affect scheduling, payroll coding and workplace accommodations.
When employers can require telework
The employer may require telework up to the 40% cap only if the telework requirement was part of the conditions of employment at hiring and the employer enforces that requirement within three months of the employee starting. Importantly, this does not apply to employees hired before the law’s coming-into-force date, protecting incumbents from retroactive imposition of mandatory telework clauses.
Exceptions to the 40% cap
Two escape valves let telework exceed 40%: a CNESST authorization where the employer demonstrates sectoral characteristics that make higher telework viable (the bill highlights historical characteristics), or a negotiated agreement between the employee or certified association and the employer. The CNESST route creates a sector-level approval mechanism rather than only case-by-case bargaining.
Mandatory telework plan
The employee (or certified association) and employer must agree on a telework plan. The plan is the operational document that will specify hours, equipment, reimbursements and constraints; because the law ties several rights (schedules, expense lists, operational constraints) to the plan, its contents will be focal in disputes and collective bargaining.
Schedules and operational constraints
Employees performing telework may adopt schedules that suit them unless the telework plan specifies legitimate operational constraints. This shifts scheduling flexibility toward employees while allowing employers to preserve operational needs, but it also requires employers to draft and justify any constraints in the telework plan rather than asserting them ad hoc.
Expense reimbursement rules
Employers must reimburse 50% of necessary expenses when an employee claims the right to telework and 100% when telework was made a hiring-time requirement; the provision references section 85.1 and explicitly deems internet fees, ergonomic equipment and telework training reasonable 'necessary expenses.' The telework plan can specify additional reimbursable items, so employers must build reimbursement protocols into HR/payroll systems and budget for potential retroactive claims.
Ban on remote monitoring; site-visit rule
The bill forbids employers from using remote monitoring software for management or control, a significant constraint on digital surveillance practices. It nevertheless permits employer visits to a telework site between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. with the employee’s consent and 24 hours’ notice, creating a narrow, consent-based inspection right tied to business hours.
Mandatory telework policy and regulatory flexibility
Employers must adopt and publish a telework policy that addresses the telework plan, right to disconnect, use of tools, and accommodations for domestic-violence victims. The government may regulate further elements and require different content by enterprise size and sector, giving the executive the power to tailor obligations to practical realities.
CNESST complaint route and tribunal referral
Employees may file written complaints with the CNESST if they disagree with the division or a telework plan. The CNESST investigates under its existing statutory procedures and can refer disputes to the Administrative Labour Tribunal; the Tribunal must decide within 60 days of filing. The provision creates an administrative enforcement track rather than leaving disputes solely to civil litigation or collective bargaining.
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Explore this topic in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Employees seeking flexible schedules — gain a statutory entitlement to up to 40% telework and the ability to set suitable schedules absent legitimate constraints, increasing predictability and bargaining leverage.
- Certified associations (unions) — obtain a formal role in negotiating telework plans and may bargain to lift the 40% cap sector-wide or secure stronger reimbursement and scheduling terms for members.
- Employees with caregiving responsibilities — the right to telework and permissive scheduling, plus explicit mention of accommodations for domestic-violence victims, provide concrete supports to balance work and personal obligations.
Who Bears the Cost
- Employers — face new cost obligations (50% or 100% reimbursement of necessary expenses), policy drafting and recordkeeping duties, and limits on digital monitoring that may require alternative performance-management systems.
- HR, payroll and IT teams — must implement telework plans, track reimbursable expenses, update employment contracts, and replace monitoring-based supervision with other oversight tools, increasing administrative workload.
- CNESST and Administrative Labour Tribunal — likely to see an uptick in telework-related complaints and authorizations, creating capacity and resource pressures given the bill’s investigation and 60-day Tribunal decision timelines.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is balancing employee autonomy, privacy and cost protection against employer operational needs and managerial authority: the bill strengthens workers’ telework rights and shifts expense burdens to employers while constraining surveillance and on-site oversight, but it offers only sectoral authorization or bargaining as routes to loosen the 40% cap — leaving employers to reconcile business continuity, productivity measurement and added costs without clear, uniform standards.
The bill leaves several implementation questions unresolved that will shape real-world impact. It does not define 'necessary expenses' beyond three examples, so disputes will arise over what employers must reimburse and whether reimbursements are retroactive.
The CNESST authorization pathway is fact-sensitive: employers must demonstrate sector 'characteristics' that enable telework, but the bill does not set evidentiary standards or a timeline for sectoral approvals, creating uncertainty for employers seeking to exceed the 40% cap.
Operationally, banning remote monitoring software for management or control is blunt. Employers that rely on digital tools for productivity, timekeeping or security will need alternative, privacy-compliant methods; the text does not clarify whether narrow, non-intrusive software or employer-provided endpoint management for security is permissible.
The consent-and-24-hours rule for site visits limits ad-hoc inspections, but it also raises privacy questions about what employers may lawfully observe in a private home during a permitted visit. Finally, the interaction with existing collective agreements and the reference to the first paragraph of section 85.1 create potential overlaps and conflicts that unions and employers will need to resolve through bargaining or CNESST guidance.
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