Ontario Ministry of Labour Report - Changing Workplaces Review

In the September 29, 2016 edition of ACTAVision, ACTA informed you of the Ontario Ministry of Labour’s Interim Report title the “Changing Workplaces Review”. The Report addressed a range of issues that had been identified and considered for change. As noted in ACTAVision, The 312 page report which can be found here touched on many aspects of employment standards and labour relations, some of which may not directly impact the retail travel industry. However, as the landscape of the travel industry is changing with new models of businesses growing and being introduced, there was one specific area within the report that warranted consideration. Two issues were raised:

  1. the misclassification of employees as independent contractors; and
  2. the current definition of employee in the ESA.

The Report acknowledged that not every worker conforms to the category of employee or independent contractor. The term “dependent contractor” had been assigned to this new group that falls in between employee and independent contractor.  After seeking member feedback, ACTA submitted a response to the government on these employment matters.

On May 30, 2017, the Ontario government announced the proposed changes to Ontario’s Employment and Labour Laws which can be found here . ACTA is pleased that the government chose not to change the definition of “employee” to include a “dependent contractor”. The notice stated that: “the current ESA definition is already quite broad, and changes to the definition are likely to have unintended consequenses.” The report emphasized that the real issue is the misclassification of employees. 

ACTA is reminding members that employers that misclassify their employees could be subject to penalties and that the employer would be responsible for proving that the individual is not an employee as highlighted in the government announcement. To assist members with understanding the “ins and outs” when working with independent contractors, ACTA hosted a webinar on May 24, 2017, which is now posted as “on demand” and available to members complimentary.

ACTA will continue to discuss these proposed changes with the ACTA Ontario Regional Council, and determine next steps.