Bill 79: Working for Workers Act, 2023 makes changes to Ontario workplace laws

Ontario’s most recent round of changes to workplace laws, Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023, received royal assent on October 26. Its changes came into force on the same date. The amendments made by Bill 79 include the following:

Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA)

• Mass terminations. Certain remote workers are now expressly included in the ESA’s mass termination rules. Those mass termination rules provide for enhanced notice periods where 50 or more employees are terminated at an “establishment” in any four-week period. Bill 79 amends the definition of “establishment” to include an employee’s private residence if the employee works from that residence and does not perform work at any other location where the employer carries on business. As a result, in mass termination scenarios remote workers may count toward the 50-termination threshold and may have enhanced termination entitlements. 
• Reservist leave. Eligibility for reservist leave is expanded to include circumstances where an employee is in treatment, recovery or rehabilitation for an illness or injury resulting from participation in reservist activities. The service requirement for reservist leave eligibility is reduced from three months to two months. 
• Temporary help agencies. New licensing criteria for temporary help agencies and recruiters enhance protections for foreign nationals. In particular, licensing requirements for recruiters are made more stringent to prevent practices such as charging fees to foreign nationals.  
• Information about employment. The Ontario government’s regulation-making authority is expanded in regard to information employers must provide about conditions of employment. The government may now prescribe information that must be provided not only to an employee, but also to a prospective employee, and when the information must be provided. 

Occupational Health and Safety Act

• Maximum fine for corporations. The maximum fine for corporations for OHSA offences is increased from $1.5 million to $2 million.  

Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades Act, 2006

• Duty regarding public interest. Regulated professions now have a duty to work in consultation with the government to ensure, as a matter of public interest, that there are adequate numbers of qualified, skilled and competent regulated professionals in Ontario.
• Alternatives to Canadian experience. If regulated professions accept “Canadian experience” as one way of qualifying for registration, they must now also provide for alternatives to Canadian experience.