Ontario Minimum Wage Increases by 25¢ on October 1st Charities and not-for-profits paying minimum wage to their employees in Ontario must give them a raise. To comply with the rising minimum wage pursuant to subsection 23.1(4) of Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”), employers will have to pay at least $0.25 per hour more for employees when the statutory general minimum wage increases from $14.00 to $14.25 per hour, as of the 1st of October, 2020. The ESA does not make an exception for charities and not-for-profits. Also, under Section 23.1 of the ESA, the general minimum wage is adjusted for different classes of employees:
Subsection 23.1(4) of the ESA provides that the minimum wage is adjusted based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index (“CPI”) between the previous calendar year and the year preceding that, published by Statistics Canada, rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cents. Unless the CPI drops, annual minimum wage increases on the 1st of October are expected. Employers must ensure they are compliant with these laws. Subsection 23.1(6) of the ESA states that the minimum wage does not decrease, regardless of the change in the CPI. |