Bill 148 Current Status: Carried of Division (Passed)

The Ontario government has passed Bill 148, which means significant changes to the Employment Standards Act. As the January 1^st date quickly approaches it’s important that dealers understand the extent of these changes and how their workplaces will change.

Here’s how you can get started:

Minimum Wage Change including student wage

• Wage increasing to $14.00/hr.
• Student Wage increasing to $13.15/hr.

Get Clear on the bottom line impact including the ripple effect of the increase.

• Do you have pay bands in place for other positions?
• Is your leadership team prepared for the conversation with employees who will seek a raise because of the minimum wage increase?

Vacation and Public Holidays

• Paid vacation increasing to 3 weeks and 6% after 5 years of service.
• New formula for calculating public holiday pay for part-time employees resulting in a considerable increase.

For example if an employee earns $450 for working 3 days

• Old calculation – $500 / 20 days = $22.50
• New calculation – $500 / 3 days = $150

Budget the increase in cost of part-time employees

• Increased cost of doing business, how does this affect your cost and pricing?
• Does this change your mix of full and part-time employees?

Personal Emergency Leave

• Mandatory payment of 2 days once an employee has employed for longer than a week.

Do your due diligence so you are protected

• How are you currently tracking these days, is it efficient and does it meet all legislative requirements for record keeping?
• Update your policies so they reflect the latest version of the legislation.

New Leave of Absences and increases to other leaves

• Leave for Domestic or Sexual Violence
• Family Medical Leave increasing to 27 weeks
• Pregnancy and Parental Leave increases
• Child death or disappearance leave increases

Understand the implications of increased absences

• Do you have a process in place for hiring contract workers to cover a leave?
• Update your policies so they reflect the latest version of the legislation.

With these changes, comes the opportunity for you to re-demonstrate to your employees that you value their time and commitment to your business. Now is the time to communicate the new legislation to employees and stay ahead of the change, so it can benefit both your staff and your business.

Read the Bill here

Written by Brianna Newman, Director of Partnerships at The Minery.