Following Ontario’s June 1, 2014, minimum wage increase to $11, the province is introducing legislation to provide more fairness for both employees and businesses, and ensure its minimum wage keeps pace with the cost of living.
The Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act, 2014 supports Ontario’s poverty strategy and is designed to further increase protections for vulnerable workers.
If passed, the act would help workers by:
- tying future minimum wage increases to the consumer price index;
- eliminating the $10,000 cap on the recovery of unpaid wages and increasing the period of recovery from up to 12 months to two years for employees;
- prohibiting employers from charging fees and seizing personal documents such as passports from temporary foreign workers; and
- making temporary help agencies and their clients liable for certain employment standards violations, helping to decrease the number of companies that hire individuals solely to work in unsafe conditions.
The government will also boost the number of enforcement officers in the province to ensure more workplaces are inspected and employees are protected.
If the legislation is passed, increases to the minimum wage would be announced by April 1 of each year and come into effect on Oct. 1.
“Indexing the minimum wage to inflation is an important step, but we can’t stop there,” says Sonia Singh of the Workers’ Action Centre. “We need the minimum wage raised to at least $14 per hour to bring full-time workers above the poverty line. Otherwise, Kathleen Wynne is legislating poverty wages for the 1.5 million workers earning under $14 in Ontario.”
The act is a combination of the Fair Minimum Wage Act, originally introduced on Feb. 25, 2014, and the Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act, originally introduced on Dec. 4, 2013.
“Taking the politics out of setting the minimum wage provides fairness for workers and predictability for businesses,” says Kevin Flynn, Ontario’s labour minister. “This legislation, if passed, would also protect the most vulnerable workers and level the playing field for employers that play by the rules.”
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