Revised – Bill 148 and the Changing Workplaces Review
Daniel Sheppard
The Changing Workplaces Review and the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 – revised
Bill 148 – the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 – was passed by the Ontario Legislature on November 22, 2017.
The significant amendments made to the Bill prior to its passage include:
- Introduction of a separate leave provision for victims of domestic/sexual violence
- Expansion of critical care leave provisions to include family members other than children
- Expansion of parental leave entitlements to match changes to Employment Insurance
- Changes to the employee list provisions in certification applications to include additional information and to remove the “mirroring” provisions for subsequent certifications
- Longer timelines for first contract arbitration
- Weakening of new scheduling rules, particularly for on-call pay
- Attempted strengthening of equal pay provisions
- Ban on mandatory high heels in most workplaces
- Changes to the provisions governing when certain parts of Bill 148 will come into force, most notably accelerated implementation of the Labour Relations Act amendments
Read our revised summary and analysis of Bill 148 by clicking the link above.