Employment Standards and Legislation

Employment Standards and Legislation
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Employment Standards and Legislation
1. What provisions are being amended? Specify the changes being made/proposed. Include specific section numbers from the legislation if applicable.
Over the years, the Canadian legal system has instituted frameworks that regulate labor markets and the buying and selling of labor. They fall into three fundamental categories, the common law of employment, regulatory law, and collective bargaining law (Doorey, 2020). Due to the dynamism of the labor market that is ever evolving, it has become inevitable to engineer amendments to particular statutes. One such amendment is Bill 79 of 2023, presented to the Ontario Legislative Assembly.
The first schedule of the amendment seeks to amend the Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act 2009 (Legislative Assembly of Ontario, 2023). In this respect, the Ontario Labour Relations Board will receive instructions to reduce the fine imposed on individuals who contravene certain conditions. The second schedule will amend the Employment Standards Act of 2000. One of the highlights will amend section 50.2 and decrees that any employee under treatment or rehabilitation from a physical or mental illness possesses a right to reservist leave. It also intimates that an employee’s private residence forms part of the location where an employer conducts business. Schedule three touches on Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trade Act enacted in 2006. In part, the amendment seeks to establish the duty of regulated professionals to guarantee an adequate supply of qualified, skilled, and competent professionals to the people of Ontario. Similarly, the bill intends to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act and increase the maximum fine for a corporation under the Act. Equally noteworthy, the bill has introduced a new section 53.1 to the Ontario Disability Support Program Act of 1997. This permits the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development to collect the personal information of individuals directly or indirectly.
2. How will the change affect the rights and protections provided to employees?
The changes entailed in Bill 79, the Working for Workers Act, 2023, will have a profound impact on the rights and protections of employees when implemented. For instance, amending the mass termination rules will ensure that virtual employees enjoy equal rights to enhanced notice with their in-office counterparts (Dentons, 2023). As of now, the Employment Standard Act enacted in 2000 does not clearly capture home offices or virtual employees. This puts them at an unfair disadvantage by excluding them from particular privileges, especially during mass termination. As such, the proposed amendment includes a private residence in determining whether a threshold in mass termination has been accomplished. Equally crucial, the proposed changes will widen the horizons regarding when employees can receive reservist leaves. The current draft stipulates that employees undergoing treatment or rehabilitation from physical or mental illnesses can take reservist leaves. In the same vein, the Ontario government seeks to broaden the information channels to pave the way for employees or potential ones to receive adequate and timely prescribed information (Dentons, 2023). The information will entail such aspects as employee pay, work location, and when the information should be made available to employees.
3. In the media articles, what did employer and worker representatives say about the change
One media entity that has weighed in on the proposed amendments is HR Reporter in an article titled Working for Workers in Ontario (Zaman, 2023). The article provides an in-depth analysis of the impending changes and the impact they will make in enhancing the protection of employees. In addition, the discourse explains what prompted the Ontario government to consider the changes. This includes the changing economy and an unprecedented upsurge in remote workers (Zaman, 2023). The impending changes, as anyone would expect, have elicited mixed reactions from employe...