On October 23, 2018, the Ontario government introduced Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018 (“Bill 47”). Of interest to charities and not-for-profits are the proposed amendments in Bill 47 with respect to both the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) and Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 which was passed through Bill 148 on November 22, 2017, as discussed in the November 2017 Charity & NFP Law Update Bulletin No. 411 and the May 2018 Charity & NFP Law Update. Bill 47 introduces changes to matters, such as minimum wage, days of leave, and differentiation of wages based on employment status. If passed most of the changes to the ESA under Bill 47 will come into force on January 1, 2019.
The minimum wage provisions of the ESA would be amended to maintain the general minimum wage at $14.00 per hour until at least October 1, 2020, meaning that there would be no increase to $15.00 on January 1, 2019 as had been provided for in Bill 148. Further, Bill 47 would repeal the personal emergency leave (“PEL”) provisions in the ESA and introduce new separate entitlements to sick leave, family responsibility leave, and bereavement leave. As a result, the current rules, which allow for a total of ten PEL days (two of which are paid) would be replaced by a maximum of three days for sick leave, three days for family responsibility leave and two days for bereavement leave in each calendar year.
Bill 47 would also amend the equal pay for equal work provisions found under Part XII of the ESA, which currently prohibits employers from differentiating rate of pay based on sex and employment status. Bill 148 had changed the law to require part-time and full-time workers to be paid the same rate of pay if they performed substantially the same work. However the equal pay for equal work provisions remain in place with respect to sex.
Bill 47 also repeals the scheduling provisions introduced in Bill 148, which were intended to come into effect on January 1, 2019. Bill 47, by introducing its own scheduling rules under Part VII.1, effectively eliminates all of the amendments made in the scheduling provisions of Bill 148 except for the “three hour rule”. This rule requires the employer to pay an employee three hours of wages in the event that an employee who regularly works for more than three hours a day is required to be available to go to work for the day, yet works for less than three hours.
Bill 47 maintains the increase to a minimum three week vacation entitlement after five years of service introduced by Bill 148.
The proposed changes in Bill 47, if passed, will affect the rights of employers and employees, and represent a significant roll-back of the previous changes made by the former Liberal government in Ontario in Bill 148. Employers who have revised their policies and practices in light of Bill 148 will need to once again review them to remain compliant with Ontario employment standards laws.