Bill 148 passes third reading
The Ontario legislature passes The Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017
The Ontario legislature has passed Bill 148, which amends the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and the Labour Relations Act, 1995. Among other things, it will increase the minimum wage to $14 as of January 1, 2018, and to $15 as of January 2019.
Significant amendments to Bill 148 made at various committee stages since it was introduced 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 updated summary and analysis of Bill 148 here.