Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018 – Royal Assent
Please find attached two memos that summarize the changes put in place by Bill 47 – one for unionized construction employees, and one for non-construction employees. I’ve included the changes to the OCOT legislation in the construction memo.
With respect to construction employees working under ICI collective agreements, the most notable changes to the ESA are as follows:
- Personal emergency leave no longer exists. Bill 47 eliminated the two paid days of personal emergency leave, as well as the eight unpaid days. However, in place of personal emergency leave, Bill 47 has added three types of unpaid leave: sick leave (3 days per year), family responsibility leave (3 days per year), and bereavement leave (2 days per year).
- Employees with 5+ years of service continue to be entitled to 6% vacation pay.
- Bill 47 eliminates the scheduling rules in Bill 148, but there is a new “three-hour rule”. If an employee who regularly works more than three hours is required to attend at work, but works less than three hours, the employer is required to pay the employee for three hours at their regular rate. However, this requirement does not apply if work is cancelled due to weather or similar factors beyond the employer’s control. There is no exemption for employees covered by a collective agreement.
There are also significant changes to the Ontario College of Trades and Apprenticeship Act (“OCTAA”):
- Bill 47 provides for the dissolution of OCOT and the repeal of the OCTAA. This will not take place until a date that is to be identified later.
- Elimination of journeyperson-to-apprentice ratio review panels
- All journeyperson-to-apprentice ratios are now set at 1:1 for the purposes of the OCOT legislation
- There is a moratorium on classification reviews, which were used to determine whether a compulsory trade should be re-classified as voluntary, or vice versa
Essentially, it appears that the College of Trades and its governing legislation is coming to an end, but the government has not given any indication as to whether another structure will be put in place.
Bill 47 has already been passed, but the changes to the ESA do not come into effect until January 1, 2019. The changes to the Labour Relations Act and the OCTAA are already effective.