It would be hard to find a person in Ontario who didn’t hear about the recent increase of the minimum hourly wage in Ontario to $14.00. And while most of the comments, criticism and small business outcry was directed to this increase, we were surprised that no one really mentioned other changes and burdens that the new law imposes on local businesses.
The increase of the wages was one among more than 10 separate and significant changes that were implemented into the new Employment Standards Act. Besides significant monetary increases and additions, such as 3 rd week of paid vacation for employees with 5 years of seniority; paid emergency and domestic violence leaves, 3-hour rule and materially increased penalties, the law now imposes serious burdens of proof on employers and corresponding material penalties in such situations as:
- Proving status of subcontractors – employers must prove the status of subcontractors as such, or will be penalized if they fail to do so.
- Proving the status and equal conditions of pay to seasonal and part-time employees;
These rules might be extremely overwhelming and hard to implement, especially for smaller and medium sized employers, who do not have a dedicated HR or compliance staff. Nonetheless, the penalties and administrative actions that the government could initiate in a case of non-compliance could be even more painful and overwhelming.
In these circumstances, CBES is delighted to offer its clients a comprehensive set of compliance documents, which is custom adjusted for the needs of your business and properly updated to comply with the new legislation. We can create the required compliance documents or review and update your
existing ones.
To schedule a free meeting with our consultant, order your basic compliance package or get more
information, contact us at www.cbes.ca/contact-us/