Employees Standards Act - Changing Workplaces Review

The Ontario Ministry of Labour has produced an Interim Report titled the “Changing Workplaces Review” to address a range of issues that had been identified and considered for change. The mandate or purpose of the review is to make recommendations on how the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) and the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA) could be reformed to better protect workers while supporting businesses in our changing economy. The 312 page report (https://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/about/workplace/) touches on many aspects of employment standards and labour relations, much 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 is one specific area within the report that warrants your consideration. Two issues that have been raised:

1) the misclassification of employees as independent contractors; and 

2) the current definition of employee in the ESA.

The Report acknowledges that not every worker conforms to the category of employee or independent contractor. The term “dependent contractor” has been assigned to this new group that falls in between employee and independent contractor.  ACTA is speaking to its members to seek feedback on these employment matters and whether changes are required or to keep the status quo around the issues of missclassification of employees and the definition of employee. 

While we are interested to hear your opinion on these matters, we will continue to keep up to date with our findings as more information becomes available.