{"id":10965,"date":"2017-08-13T22:42:15","date_gmt":"2017-08-14T02:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/living-safety-information\/%e3%82%aa%e3%83%b3%e3%82%bf%e3%83%aa%e3%82%aa%e5%b7%9e%e3%81%ae%e5%8a%b4%e5%83%8d%e8%80%85%e3%81%ab%e9%96%a2%e3%82%8f%e3%82%8b%e5%a4%89%e6%9b%b4%ef%bc%88%e5%8f%af%e8%83%bd%e6%80%a7%ef%bc%89\/"},"modified":"2021-04-16T19:32:30","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T23:32:30","slug":"changescomingforontarioworkers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/news\/changescomingforontarioworkers\/","title":{"rendered":"Changes coming for Ontario workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a translation of\u00a0 \u201cChanges coming for Ontario workers\u201d\u00a0 published in July 2017, produced in English by\u00a0CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario)<\/a>. Japanese Social Services is wholly responsible for the accuracy of this translation, produced with permission of CLEO.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/h1>\n

Following the release of Ontario’s\u00a0Changing Workplaces Review report<\/a>, the government moved quickly to propose changes to the Employment Standards Act.
\nThis month’s On the Radar talks about these changes and how they could affect workers’ rights.
\nThere’s more detailed information about workers’ rights on the\u00a0Steps to Justice<\/a>\u00a0website. And there are links to this information throughout.<\/p>\n

Changing the Employment Standards Act<\/h3>\n

Bill 148, Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017<\/a>proposes\u00a0changes to the rules<\/a>\u00a0in Ontario’s Employment Standards Act (ESA). The ESA has minimum rules that employers must follow. It\u00a0applies to most workers<\/a>\u00a0in Ontario.
\nThe changes would come into effect if\u00a0the Bill becomes law<\/a>. The government is asking people to\u00a0say what they think about the Bill<\/a>\u00a0before Ontario’s Legislative Assembly votes on it.<\/p>\n

Increasing the minimum wage<\/strong><\/p>\n

The general\u00a0minimum wage<\/a>\u00a0is $11.40. It goes up to $11.60 on October 1, 2017.
\nThe government wants to raise it to $14.00 on January 1, 2018 and $15.00 on January 1, 2019.
\nOther minimum wage rates, like student minimum wage, would also go up.<\/p>\n

Putting an end to “misclassifying” workers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some employers insist that workers agree that they’re being\u00a0hired as “independent contractors”<\/a>.
\nAn independent contractor is someone who runs their own business. Independent contractors are self-employed and\u00a0don’t<\/strong>\u00a0have the same rights as employees.
\nEmployers may do this so they don’t have to follow\u00a0the legal rules<\/strong>\u00a0that cover employees. This is called “misclassifying” employees.
\nBill 148 says that employers who misclassify their workers are\u00a0breaking the law<\/strong>\u00a0and can be punished. For example, an employer who’s found guilty could have to pay a fine.<\/p>\n

More vacation days<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most workers have the right to\u00a02 weeks of paid vacation<\/a>\u00a0after working 12 months for the same employer.
\nNew rules would give workers the right to\u00a03 weeks<\/strong>of paid vacation after working 5 years for the same employer.<\/p>\n

Easier rules about public holiday pay<\/strong><\/p>\n

In most jobs, workers have the right to\u00a0get a public holiday off<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0holiday pay<\/a>.
\nThe rules for figuring out holiday pay are complicated.
\nNew rules would make this easier, which could help workers get what they’re owed.<\/p>\n

Paid sick days<\/strong><\/p>\n

Workers can take up to\u00a010 days<\/strong>\u00a0off in each year as\u00a0“personal emergency leave”<\/a>.
\nBut to get this they must work for a company that regularly employs\u00a0at least 50<\/strong>\u00a0workers. And the ESA does\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0say that employers must pay workers who take this leave.
\nBill 148 would give\u00a0all workers<\/strong>\u00a0who are\u00a0covered by the ESA<\/a>\u00a0the right to take personal emergency leave. And employers would have to\u00a0pay for 2 of those days<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Claiming rights as a worker<\/strong><\/p>\n

When an employer does not follow the law, a worker may be able to\u00a0make a claim with the Ministry of Labour<\/a>.
\nBut in most cases, a worker is supposed to\u00a0contact the employer<\/a>\u00a0before making a claim.
\nBill 148 would change the rules so that workers don’t have to do this.
\nAnd if the Ministry of Labour orders an employer to pay wages that they owe, the Ministry’s order can say that the employer must also pay interest on those unpaid wages.<\/p>\n

More changes<\/strong><\/p>\n

These are just some of the changes to the ESA that Bill 148 proposes. The Bill is not yet law and what it says could change\u00a0before it becomes law<\/a>.
\nBut\u00a0advocates for workers are hopeful<\/a>\u00a0that the changes we’ve highlighted here will take effect.<\/p>\n

Help for workers<\/h3>\n

If workers are having problems with their employer, they can contact a\u00a0community legal clinic or an organization that deals with workers’ rights<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This email alert gives general legal information. It is not a substitute for getting legal advice about a particular situation.<\/p>\n

Original Source :\u00a0http:\/\/mailchi.mp\/cleo\/on-the-radar-changes-coming-for-ontario-workers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a translation of\u00a0 \u201cChanges coming for Ontario workers\u201d\u00a0 published in July 2017, produced in English by\u00a0CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario). Japanese Social Services is wholly responsible for the accuracy of this translation, produced with permission of CLEO. Following the release of Ontario’s\u00a0Changing Workplaces Review report, the government moved quickly to propose changes to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":10956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[280],"tags":[303],"class_list":["post-10965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-living-safety-information"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10965"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14103,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10965\/revisions\/14103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}