The Ontario government proposed an update to employment laws that would grant remote employees the right to receive termination notices.

The proposed changes, announced on Monday, would make remote workers eligible to receive layoff notices at least eight weeks before termination.

"Whether you commute to work every day or not, you should know what you're entitled to," Ontario's Minister of Labour, Monte McNaughton, said in a statement on Monday, adding that no billion-dollar company should treat its remote employees as second-class.

Currently, the Ontario Employment Standards Act (ESA) applies when 50 or more employees are terminated in an "establishment" within a four-week period, entitling them to a group layoff notice of eight, 12, or 16 weeks.

When it comes to mass termination, remote employees are not protected because they are not recognized under Ontario's current labor laws.

As a result, companies can split layoffs between remote employees and office employees to avoid meeting the definition of mass layoff. For example, 40 employees in the office can be laid off along with 20 other remote workers.

If enacted, the new law will address and close this current gap by providing remote employees with the same protections as office workers in the event of large-scale termination.