CANADIAN PRESS
Ontario is temporarily amending its labour laws to help businesses avoid permanently laying off workers and paying out severance, which could send some into bankruptcy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government announced Mondayย it wouldย amendย the Employment Standards Act,ย which requiresย businesses to terminate employees who have been laid off for 13 weeks. The law then requires the business to payย severance to workers.
The change will see non-unionized workers who have had their hours reduced or eliminated placed on a temporary leave that preserves their job. Workersย will still be eligible for federal emergency income support programs.
The amendment to the law will expire six weeks after the provinceโs declared state of emergency ends.
โWeโve heard loud and clear from employers that they donโt want to be forced to terminate their employees,โ Labour Minister Monte McNaughtonย said inย a statement.ย โWe have to step in to make sure workers have jobs to return to.โ
Last month, Ontarioโs fiscal watchdog saidย 2.2 million people in the provinceย have been affected by the shutdown: an estimated 1.1 million workers in the province have lost their jobs, and another 1.1 million have seen their hours sharply reduced.
According to Statistics Canada, Ontario lost 689,200 jobs in April, bringing its employment down to the lowest level since 2009. The provinceโs unemployment rate climbed to 11.3 per cent, the highest it has been since 1993.
Small and medium-sized businesses, andย groups that advocate on their behalf,ย had been asking for the temporary change to the provinceโs labour laws.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Federation of Independent Business, and Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters have all called for the measure.
They feared that once the terminations were triggered, the severance costs would put many businesses who were struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic, into bankruptcy.
A spokeswoman for the CFIB said the โ13-week clock and the significant termination costsโย had beenย weighing heavily on small employers.
โThe new regulation will help businesses stay afloat and keep their employees as we move further into economic recovery,โ Julie Kwiecinski said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for second-hand retailer Value Village lauded the move, saying it would help the company and other employers retainย thousand of jobs.
โAs we work to safely reopen in communities across the province, Value Village is eager to continue to support our team members, non-profit partners and the environment,โ Sara Gaugl said in a statement.
NDP employment standards critic Peggy Sattler said the change opens the door to actions that could hurt workers.
โEmployees should never be denied access to their severance pay and other basic benefits they earned,โ she said. โAny changes to the Employment Standards Act needs to be made with workers at the heart of the decision.โ
Employment lawyer Jonathan Pinkus, a partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLPย said the changes will create conflict between employers and their employees and instead of giving them the chance to work it out within the provinceโs existing labour laws, this will move cases to civil courts.
โThis regulation is extremely one sided,โ he said.ย โThe only thing that it does for employees is guarantees them basically the right to reinstatement from these layoffs after the infectious disease leave.โ
The amendmentย will applyย retroactively to March 1 and does not include unionized workers who are covered by collective agreements.
The province has also announced legislation to ban employers from requiring sick notes for those in self-isolation or quarantine. It will also ensure protected leave for workers who have to take unpaid leave to isolate themselves or care for others, such as children not in school.
The government has said those measures will be retroactive to Jan. 25.