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Labour Relations
In June, 2005 the Ontario Legislature passed Bill 144, the Labour Relations Statute Amendment Act. The ORHMA was a founding member of the Coalition for Democratic Labour Relations, a group of various industry associations, working together to raise the profile of the government’s proposed amendments and to seek changes to the Bill in order to protect democracy in the workplace.

Some of the recent amendments to the Ontario Labour Relations Act include:

• Remedial Certification: restoring powers to the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) to certify a union in your workplace without your employees having a chance to vote! Previously, if an employer violated the Act during a union organizing campaign the OLRB could ignore the results of a vote and order a second vote. The new amendments mean that now if an employer violates the Act during a union organizing campaign the OLRB can simply certify the union without a vote taking place. This means that as a result of the employer’s conduct, a union could become certified even where the employees have expressed no real interest in being represented by a trade union.

• Interim Reinstatement: granting the OLRB the power to reinstate workers who file a claim of wrongful dismissal related to an organizing campaign, before the OLRB actually makes a decision on the employee’s claim.

• Decertification Posters: Employers in unionized workplaces are now obligated to remove the previously required “How to Decertify your Trade Union” posters.

(Updated Sept, 2005)

Labour Relations - Downloadable Documents

• Open Letter to Premier McGuinty, May 9, 2005 Page 1, Page 2

• Premier McGuinty’s response to Coalition for Democratic Labour Relations, April 28, 2005 Page 1

•ORHMA urges government to protect democracy in the workplace: submission to Standing Committee on Social Policy, April 26, 2005
Page 1 , Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

• ORHMA calls for public hearings, letter to all MPPs, April 2005
Page 1

• Coalition for Democratic Labour Relations letter to all MPPs, February 2005 Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

• Business Leaders form Coalition to oppose proposed changes to Ontario’s Labour Relations Act, December 2004 Page 1, Page 2

• ORHMA letter to Minister of Labour, November 2004 Page 1

Employment Standards

Minimum Wage

ORHMA Seeks 2010 Minimum Wage Freeze (PDF)

Scheduled minimum wage increases are as follows:

• CALL TO ACTION - Letter to Premier on Minimum Wage, Page 1

Generally, employees qualify for public holiday entitlements unless they fail, without reasonable cause, to work:

• their entire regularly-scheduled shift before or after the public holiday; or

• their entire shift on the public holiday if they agreed or were required to work that day.

Public holiday pay is an amount equal to an employee’s regular wages earned in the four work weeks prior to the public holiday plus any vacation pay payable during that period, divided by 20.

Qualified employees are entitled to take off the public holidays with public holiday pay. They can also agree in writing to work on the public holidays and :

• be paid their regular rate for all hours worked on the public holidays plus receive a substitute holiday with public holiday pay; or

• if the employee and employer agree in writing, be paid public holiday pay plus “premium pay” of one-and-a-half times their regular rate for all hours worked on the public holidays.

For more a detailed explanation of holiday pay as well as a list of exemptions and special circumstances, please visit www.gov.on.ca/lab

Full-time, part-time, temporary, seasonal, contract workers and student workers are eligible.

Employees are entitled to two weeks of vacation time after each 12-month vacation entitlement year. Where the employer has established an alternative vacation entitlement year that does not start on the anniversary date of the employee's hire (for example, an employee might be hired on June 1, but the employer has set up the entitlement year to begin each year on September 1), the employee is entitled to a pro-rated amount of vacation time for the period (stub period) before the alternative vacation entitlement year starts.

Vacation pay must be at least four per cent of the "gross" wages earned in the 12-month vacation entitlement year or in the stub period (where that applies).

Employers are required to keep records of the vacation time earned since the date of hire but not taken before the start of the vacation entitlement year, the vacation time earned and vacation time taken (if any) during the vacation entitlement year (or stub period), and the balance of vacation time remaining at the end of the vacation entitlement year (or stub period).

The employer must also keep records of the vacation pay paid to the employee during the vacation entitlement year (and stub period, if any) and how that vacation pay was calculated. These records must be made no later than seven days after the start of the next vacation entitlement year (or first vacation entitlement year if the records relate to a stub period) or the first pay day after the stub period or vacation entitlement year ends, whichever is later.

For more information go to www.gov.on.ca/lab

Employment Standards Act Poster
Under the Employment Standards Act (ESA), every employer must post and keep posted in at least one conspicuous place in every workplace, where it is likely to come to the attention of employees in that workplace, a copy of the most recent ESA poster published by the Ministry of Labour. If the majority language of a workplace of an employer is a language other than English, the employer shall make enquiries as to whether the Ministry has prepared a translation of the poster into that language, and if the Ministry has done so, the employer shall post and keep posted a copy of the translation next to the copy of the poster.

This poster must be printed out on legal-size (8 ½” x 14”) paper. It can be printed in colour or black and white. It is free.

Effective April 12, 2008, Ministry of Labour Employment Standards Officers may use the full range of enforcement measures to ensure that employers are complying with the requirement to post Version 4.0. This can include issuing Notices of Contravention with monetary penalties.

Employment Standards Act Poster Version 4.0

Hours of Work
Changes to the Employment Standards Amendment Act regarding Hours of Work came into effect on March 1, 2005.

The Employment Standards Act (ESA) sets out rules employers must follow if they want their employees to work more than 48 hours a week or who wish to average an employee’s work hours in order to determine overtime pay entitlements.

If an employer wants an employee to work more than 48 hours in a week, the employer must:

i) give non-unionized employees a Ministry of Labour-produced information sheet regarding hours of work and overtime pay;

ii) obtain written agreement from the employee or, if the employee is represented by a union, the employee’s union;

iii) obtain approval from the Director of Employment Standards.

The first two requirements also apply if an employer wants an employee to work excess daily hours.

If an employer wants to average an employee’s hours for the purposes of determining entitlement to overtime pay, the employer must obtain written agreement from the employee or, if the employee is represented by a union, the employee’s union and obtain approval from the Director of Employment Standards.

Employers can begin applying immediately for approval of excess weekly hours and/or averaging hours.

Employers will be required to keep copies of agreements to work excess hours or average hours of work for overtime purposes for three years after the last day that work was performed under these agreements.

For more detailed information regarding an employer’s rights and responsibilities under the ESA please, employers are encouraged to the Ministry of Labour’s Employer Guide at

www.gov.on.ca/LAB/english/es/pdf/hours_guide.pdf

Family Medical Leave

In June 2004, the government created Family Medical Leave. An employee can take up to eight weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave to provide care or support to a specified family member who has a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death occurring within a period of 26 weeks. The medical condition and risk of death must be confirmed in a certificate issued by a qualified health practitioner.

All employees, whether fulltime or part-time, permanent or contract, who are covered by the Employment Standards Act, 2000 are entitled to Family Medical Leave.

The eligible family members for whom an employee can take Family Medical Leave to assist have been: the employee’s spouse (including same-sex partner); a parent, step-parent or foster parent of the employee; a child, step-child or foster child of the employee or the employee’s spouse.

In November 2006 the government expanded the list which now includes the following people: siblings; grandparents, grandchildren; certain in-laws; aunts and uncles; nieces and nephews; certain step-relationships; a person who considers the employee to be like a family member (this requires completion of the federal “Compassionate Care Benefits Attestation” document).

A medical certificate issued by a qualified health practitioner stating that the family member has a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death within 26 weeks is required.

An employer can request these documents from an employee who is taking Family Medical Leave to confirm the employee’s eligibility.

 WSIB

ORHMA Secures WSIB Rate Freeze for 2010

The WSIB has released preliminary premium rates for 2010, and the ORHMA is pleased to announce that both rate groups 919 (Restaurants and Catering) and 921 (Hotels and Motels) will see a rate freeze in the coming year.

The maximum insurable earnings ceiling has been increased by 4% from $74,600 to $77,600. Changes to the Maximum Insurable Earnings Ceiling are directly linked to changes in average earnings in Ontario as measured by Statistics Canada, and provisions under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.

This year premium rates will be frozen for rate groups with good health-and-safety performance, while rate increases will be calculated for poor-performing rate groups in the usual way.

Rate Group 919: Restaurants and Catering: For the fourth consecutive year there will be a zero per cent increase to premium rates for rate group 919, and the rate will remain at $1.65 per $100 of insurable earnings.

Rate Group 921: Hotels, Motels & Camping: In 2010 there will be a zero per cent increase to premium rates for rate group 921 for the second consecutive year. Rates will remain at $2.68 per $100 of insurable earnings.

The ORHMA is committed to assisting members in making improvements to their health and safety practices, reducing workplace accident claims and costs. The ORHMA meets regularly with officials at the Ministry of Labour and WSIB to discuss issues of concern to ORHMA members. The ORHMA also works closely with the Ontario Service Safety Alliance (www.ossa.com) to develop tools and resources to assist members in making improvements to health and safety practices and realizing cost savings.


For information on WSIB or premium rates visit www.wsib.on.ca

For more information please contact Michelle Saunders, ORHMA Manager of Government Relations, at 1-800-668-8906 ext. 307
or msaunders@orhma.com

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