We recently published Part One of this series which discussed the ESA proposals that relate to employee pay and other changes to business costs. This post will cover the rest of the ESA proposals that do not relate to pay, as well as the proposals to the LRA.

The following is a highlight of the changes being proposed – please note that only the main points have been mentioned – for more details on this legislation click here.  

Employment Standards Act (ESA) Proposals

Assignment Termination

• At least one week’s notice given to an assignment employee when an assignment schedule to last longer than three months will end early

Date implemented if passed: January 1, 2018

Scheduling

• Employees can request schedule/location changes after being employed for three months, without fear of reprisal
• Employees can refuse to accept shifts without repercussion if the employer asks them with less than four days’ notice
• If an employee is “on-call” and not called in to work, they must be paid three hours at their regular rate of pay – required for each 24 hour period that they’re on call

Date implemented if passed: January 1, 2019

Employee Misclassification

• Employers are prohibited from misclassifying employees as “independent contractors”
• Various penalties would be introduced for employers who do not follow this

Date implemented if passed: Would come into force on Royal Assent

Leave for Death of a Child and for Crime-Related Disappearance

• Creation of a new leave for child death or disappearance for up to 104 weeks

Date implemented if passed: January 1, 2018

Family Medical Leave

• Increase Family Medical Leave from up to 8 weeks in a 26-week period to up to 27 weeks in a 52-week period

Date implemented if passed: January 1, 2018

Physician Notes for Absences

• Employers prohibited from requesting a sick note from an employee who is taking PEL

Date implemented if passed: January 1, 2018

Employee Contact

• Employees no longer have to contact their employer before filing a claim under the Employment Standards Act (ESA)

Date implemented if passed: January 1, 2018

Penalties for Non-Compliance of the ESA

• Increased flexibility around the penalties that Employment Standards Officers can give out to employers who are not in compliance with the ESA
• Cost of penalties increasing
• The Director of Employment Standards would be allowed to publish (including online) the names of individuals who have received a penalty, along with the coinciding information

Date implemented if passed: January 1, 2018

Labour Relations Act (LRA) Proposals
These amendments address the following topics:

• Union certification
• Successor rights
• Structure of bargaining units
• Return-to-Work rights and procedures
• Just cause protection, and
• Fines

If passed, this legislation would be in effect six months after the Act comes into force.

For the specific LRA proposals, as well as the additional ESA details, click here.

We will be following updates on this legislation as they become available and will do our best to relay that information in a way that is helpful to you as an employer.

Clear Path is also planning a training session/PowerPoint outlining key changes for employers and best practices for adjusting business activities accordingly. We’d love to hear what you want to know and how we can best serve you in this way. Please leave your suggestions in the comments sections, tweet us @Clear_Path, or email info@clearpathemployer.com.

Additional Information:
MPP’s recently finished a two-week consultation process where the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs heard from residents and business owners in 10 communities. Items that were brought up during some of the public hearings can be found on the Ontario Legislative Assembly website. 

Sources:
https://news.ontario.ca/mol/en/2017/07/ontario-creating-fair-workplaces-and-better-jobs.html
https://news.ontario.ca/mol/en/2017/05/proposed-changes-to-ontarios-employment-and-labour-laws.html

The Government of Ontario’s new legislation, the Fair Workplaces and Better Jobs Act, has many employers questioning what they have to do to prepare for the changes. A mere example of how huge this change is can be seen by Loblaws recent announcement that the wage hikes will increase their labour expenses by about $190 million next year (source).

In order to help employers grasp these proposals, we have broken down the changes into two condensed and simplified blog posts. This post will focus strictly on proposals that pertain to changes in pay and direct costs to employers. Part two will address proposals that relate to aspects of employment outside of pay.

The following is a highlight of the changes being proposed – please note that only the main points have been mentioned and that some further details have been left out. To read more detailed information, visit the links provided at the end of the post.

Equal Pay for Casual, Part-Time, Temporary & Seasonal Employees

• Non full-time employees are paid equally to full-time employees when working for the same employer and completing the same job
• Employees can request a wage review and the employer has to either adjust pay or provide a written explanation
• Employees are protected against repercussions for asking about their wage or asking another employee about their wage
• This is also applicable to Temporary Help Agency employees

Exceptions to this amendment include wage differences based on:

• Seniority  and merit systems
• Systems that determine pay by quantity or quality of production
• Other factors (sex and employment status do not qualify as exceptions)

Date implemented if passed: April 1, 2018

Overtime Pay

• Employees with more than one position and who work overtime must be paid at the rate for the position they are working during overtime

Date implemented if passed: January 1, 2018

Paid Vacation

• Employees are entitled to three weeks of paid vacation after five years of service with the same employer

Date implemented if passed: January 1, 2018

Public Holiday Pay

• Simplified formula for calculating public holiday pay so that employees are entitled to their average daily wage

Date implemented if passed: January 1, 2018

Paid Emergency Leave (PEL)

• The current threshold of workplaces with 50 or more employees having to provide PEL would be eliminated
• All employees would be entitled to 10 PEL days per year, two of which paid

Date implemented if passed: January 1, 2018

Paying Employees

• Create the authority to prescribe additional methods of payment
• An Employment Standards Officer can also order money to be paid directly to an employee when they are owed money by an employer or Temporary Help Agency

Date implemented if passed: January 1, 2018

Interest on Unpaid Wages

• Employment Standards Officers can include interest on employees’ unpaid wages and on fees that have been unlawfully charged to them

Dates implemented if passed: January 1, 2018

For the specific LRA proposals, as well as the additional ESA details, click here.

Stay tuned for Part Two which will discuss ESA proposals not pertaining to pay, and all of the LRA proposals.
​
We will be following updates on this legislation as they become available and will do our best to relay that information in a way that is helpful to you as an employer.

Clear Path is also planning a training session/PowerPoint outlining key changes for employers and best practices for adjusting business activities accordingly. We’d love to hear what information you want to know and how we can best serve you in this way. Please leave your suggestions in the comments sections, tweet us @Clear_Path, or email info@clearpathemployer.com. 

Additional Information:
MPP’s recently finished a two-week consultation process where the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs heard from residents and business owners in 10 communities. Items that were brought up during some of the public hearings can be found on the Ontario Legislative Assembly website. 

Sources:
https://news.ontario.ca/mol/en/2017/07/ontario-creating-fair-workplaces-and-better-jobs.html
https://news.ontario.ca/mol/en/2017/05/proposed-changes-to-ontarios-employment-and-labour-laws.html

​The WSIB recently released their By the Numbers: 2016 Statistical Report. Further to WSIB-specific statistics like how many RTW visits were made last year, this report also contains broader information that provides insight into the general health and safety being achieved within Ontario workplaces.  New to the resource is the ability to run your own reports using their Report builder app and a few other helpful changes. 

User-Friendly Changes  

The WSIB made a few changes to By the Numbers this year in order to make it increasingly user-friendly. The website was redeveloped so that users can now interact with the charts and graphs, making it easier to understand the data being shown. Reports and specific information can now be downloaded in a variety of formats, ultimately making the site more accessible. They also added new focus chapters that profile both Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 employers, helping to categorize and explain the statistics in a clearer and more definitive manner.
​
Perhaps the most useful tool on the site is the Report Builder. This allows visitors to select the specific data they’d like to see and the site automatically creates a custom report accordingly. Changes made to the Report Builder include the added ability to recall data that’s specific to a rate group classification, along with fatality data which is now an additional option for viewing. 

Using the Data

The overall intention of the WSIB in providing this information and updating its functions is to give employers and workers a resource that will help them identify how they can make their workplaces safer and healthier.
​
This resource is a great way to benchmark how your company is performing in comparison with the provincial numbers, and finding out specific information that can help you identify risks associated with your industry and plan for how to mitigate them before they become an issue (or larger one) for your business.

It’s also helpful in spotting both provincial and WSIB trends that may impact how you approach claims management, as well as what steps you’ll take in the future to further improve your position within the system. Ultimately, By the Numbers is a resource that employers and workers should look at to stay updated with the WSIB and claims management in Ontario. 

Conclusion
​
If you have any questions about the WSIB, health and safety, or other HR topics, we would be happy to help you. You can contact Anna Aceto-Guerin at anna@clearpathemployer.com or by phone at 519-624-0800. 

You can view the WSIB By the Numbers report here: http://www.wsibstatistics.ca/

Image Sources
WSIB By the Numbers Webpage -  ​http://www.wsibstatistics.ca/