April 2016 eNewsletter for Ontario Teachers
It’s Your Job video contest… the results are in!
This year’s video contest was a huge success, receiving more than 70 entries! Almost twice as much from last year! This year’s theme, “Speak Up! Speak Out”, may have been the driving force. It created a platform for students to speak out on how to talk to co-workers about workplace safety without fear or embarrassment, or provide a message to employers on how to make it comfortable for youth to ask them questions about workplace safety. We would like to thank the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) who matched the prize money for the second year in a row. Thanks to the WSIB, the winners and their schools received up to $2,000!
The results from this year’s contest show that these talented students are passionate and dedicated about workplace safety. This is clearly evident through the amount of time and effort that was put into making these videos a great success!
Ontario Winners
The following videos were chosen to move on to the Canadian finals, where they will compete against other provincial winners for a chance to win up to an additional $2,000!
First Place ($2,000 for the team, and $2,000 for the school)
“Breakdown” by Raagavi Ramenthiran, Jaclyn Chiu, Jessica Gu and Morgan McKay
Markville Secondary School, MarkhamSecond Place ($1,500 for the team, and $1,500 for the school)
“Stand Your Ground” by Christoforos Pietroban
St. Pius X High School, OttawaThird Place ($1,000 for the team, and $1,000 for the school)
“When You Gamble With Safety You Bet Your Life” by Ryan Murray
Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School, KingstonTop videos from across Canada will also compete for a chance to win an additional $1,000 for Fan Favourite. Don’t forget to vote for yours by April 29th! Visit CCOHS’s Young Worker Zone for details.
Congratulations to all of the students who participated in this year’s contest!
Don’t forget to see, share, and show the videos in your school or workplace. Visit Ontario.ca/videocontest to see more!
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Province increasing minimum wage on October 1, 2016
Last month, the government announced increases to Ontario’s minimum wage rates that will come into effect October 1, 2016. The student minimum wage will go up from $10.55 per hour to $10.70 per hour. This rate applies to students under 18 years old who work 28 hours a week or less when school is in session, or who work during a school break or summer holiday.
Students who work more than 28 hours a week while school is in session are entitled to the general minimum wage rate which is currently $11.25 per hour but will increase to $11.40 per hour as of October 1, 2016.
For more information on minimum wage including the current and upcoming rates, please visit Ontario.ca/minimumwage.
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Coming soon: new rules regarding tips and gratuities
Starting June 10, 2016, new rules around the handling of tips and other gratuities in the workplace will come into force. Examples of tips and other gratuities include: money given to an employee by a customer for a service in the form of cash, credit card or other electronic payment, or gratuity charges that customers are required to pay for service.
- Employers will be allowed to withhold their employees’ tips and other gratuities if they are required by law, court order, or if they’re redistributing the tips amongst staff as part of a tip pool.
- Employers will also be allowed a share of the tip pool if they are owners or part-owners of the business and spend most of their time doing the same work as the employees who earn tips, or employees in other businesses that would normally get tips.
- Deductions from tips will not be allowed for things like spillage, breakage, etc.
To help protect their rights, students should track the tips they receive and how much they pay into tip pools.
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Links
Ministry of Labour resource website for teachers
Ministry of Labour’s Young Workers webpage
Read previous editions of the newsletter
Email your ideas for articles to: Marie.Faminial@ontario.ca