Please see the following Bill 47 update – changes to the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 receiving Royal Assent.

This provides a quick list of the changes in employment law that will take effect January 1 2019.

On November 21, 2018, Bill 47, the Making Ontario Open for Business Act, passed third reading and received Royal Assent.

With respect to the Employment Standards Act, 2000, there were no further changes to the version of Bill 47 that was introduced in the Legislature on October 23, 2017. The only item that has now been clarified is that many of the changes will take effect on January 1, 2019, as was anticipated. This date is significant for a number of reasons:

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An interesting article on “dependent contractors”.  Whether the person(or company) is deemed an “independent contractor”, a “dependent contractor” or a “personal service business”, employers need to make sure that both parties are clear on what they are. Obtaining good advice on the structure they choose is the key to avoiding larger and more expensive problems for both parties.

Employers are generally familiar with the distinction between an employee and an independent contractor.  A third category of worker, known as the “dependent contractor”, is beginning to be more widely recognized by Canadian courts…

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I always see red when I read articles like these.  They encourage employee to “use up” their coverage with total disregard to their employer that is paying the bill.

Would someone suggest claiming against any other insurance to avoid “wasting money”?  Would someone make that minor car insurance claim each year for the shopping cart ding or minor scrape?  Likely not, unless you are good with your rates skyrocketing.  So why is it okay here?

An employee benefit plan is a perq that good employers provide (and should be used that way), not as a way to get more from an insurer (that isn’t really paying).

I pay for benefits monthly and I’ll be damned if I’m going to miss my opportunity to squeeze the most from them. Otherwise, it’s wasted money.

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Just a quick note to inform of the increased health tax exemption.  Details are below.

Employer Health Tax

Effective January 1, 2019, the Employer Health Tax (EHT) exemption is increased from $450,000 to $490,000. This is part of a series of EHT exemption adjustments for inflation using the Ontario Consumer Price Index scheduled for every five years.

Learn more about the EHT tax exemption

This is an great article (along with an excellent video) on what happens when you commit benefits fraud.  If there is one article that you could pass around the office, this might be the one.

The video is only 30 seconds long, but makes a strong point that employees will understand.

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