In light of upcoming changes to Ontario’s employment leave policies, as well as new requirements for job postings, it’s important for employers to review and update their workplace policies to ensure they’re in line with current legislation, says Larysa Workewych, a senior associate at Dentons Canada LLP.
As of June 19, an employee with at least 13 weeks of service is entitled to an unpaid leave of up to 27 weeks if the employee is unable to perform the duties of their position because of a serious medical condition. A separate amendment, which will come into force on a date yet to be proclaimed, allows employees with at least 13 weeks of service to take an unpaid leave of up to 16 weeks after the placement or arrival of a child into the employee’s custody, care and control through adoption or surrogacy.
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“For employers that might have practices that are currently not consistent with [the amendments] and strictly follow the Employment Standards Act, there’s just going to be a larger overhaul, because they’re going to have to update their policies to make sure they are now complying with these new entitlements,” she says, noting additional manager training may be required for some employers to comply with the updated legislation.
Workewych adds these amendments are consistent with measures in other jurisdictions across Canada, particularly those regarding surrogacy and adoption. “I think to a certain extent, some of these issues that were discovered through the pandemic — particularly with regard to remote work changes — really impacted people and their families. We’re seeing federally, for example, announcements of intended changes to the Canada Labour Code to enhance entitlements in relation to parents and prospective parents.”
Ontario also recently passed amendments to legislation governing job postings. As of July 1, employers must include information such as the company’s legal and operating name, contact information, anticipated work location, a general description of the initial hours of work and starting wage, pay period and pay day.
On Jan. 1, 2026, employers will further be required to include total compensation — including base salary, bonuses and commissions — or a range of expected compensation up to $50,000. Employers will also be required to disclose whether artificial intelligence is used to screen or assess candidates.
“Anecdotally, a lot of employers just choose not to post salary ranges at all and that’s what the government is trying to address here, by making it a requirement to not only post ranges but to also limit the scope of extremely wide ranges,” says Workewych.
Mia Music, an associate in Dentons’ employment and labour group, says the requirements pertaining to AI screening and assessment are likely to require the most attention from employers, due to the recent use of the technology for this purpose.
“There’s been an explosion of [the use of] AI tools in recruitment . . . and I think that will be something that will be a bit tricky moving forward, in terms of what sort of AI tools fit under that legislative definition.”
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