Ontario Ministry of Labour What’s New – December 2018
Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act
On December 6, the government announced a number of legislative, regulatory and program changes, and it introduced Bill 66, the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act. If passed, Bill 66 would amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and the Labour Relations Act, 1995. There would also be a regulatory change under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Health care enforcement initiatives in Ontario
Last fall, the ministry launched a 10-month enforcement initiative at hospitals, long-term care and retirement homes, and primary care workplaces to promote health and safety in Ontario’s health care sector. This follows a three-year enforcement initiative that focused on the five most serious hazards at hospitals, long-term care homes, retirement homes, group homes and other health and community care workplaces. Learn what the ministry found in both initiatives.
Learn more about the 3-year initiative
Learn more about the 10-month initiative
New and young worker inspection initiative
Between 2012 and 2016, 30 young workers died on the job. This summer, the ministry focused on the health and safety of young workers by conducting an inspection initiative at industrial workplaces. Learn what the inspectors found.
Don’t leave workplace safety out in the cold
The cold temperatures and icy conditions during Canadian winters can lead to workplace hazards. The Infrastructure Health & Safety Association has produced PDFs on how to mitigate winter hazards, work safely on ice covers like frozen lakes and rivers, and use vibrating tools in the cold.
Read more about winter hazards
Read more about working safely on ice covers
Read more about preventing vibration white finger
Ministry launches campaign focusing on residential renovations
This month, the ministry is launching a 10-week digital advertising campaign targeting the underground economy in residential renovations. The campaign reaches homeowners via the rewards-based app Carrot and aims to raise awareness of risks posed by hiring renovation contractors who operate under the table. Risks include contractors who lack proper certification and WSIB coverage, and who don’t follow safe workplace practices.
Collective bargaining highlights for second quarter
Get an overview of collective bargaining activity and major wage settlements from April to June 2018 in our recently released collective bargaining highlights. For additional data and statistics, visit the ministry’s Collective Bargaining Ontario webpage.
Visit Collective Bargaining Ontario
Reminder: Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day
The holidays are around the corner! Generally, most employees are entitled to get a day off with pay on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Please note that some employees may work in jobs not covered by the public holiday provisions in the Employment Standards Act. To see whether a job is covered, or if special rules apply to you, please refer to the ministry’s guide to employment standards special rules and exemptions.