Very few Mainstay clients have employees being paid at the minimum wage, but those that do need to know that rate is increasing to $15.50 next week. The Ministry of Labour sent a reminder today. I’ve clipped it below for your reference.
Minimum wage is the lowest wage rate an employer can pay an employee. Minimum wage rates in Ontario will increase on October 1, 2022. The increase to the general minimum wage will be 50 cents, which will bring the new rate to $15.50 per hour.
IF YOU USE, OR INTEND TO USE, INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS – READ THIS
Many employers use “Independent Contractors”(IC) to perform services for the business. This is not necessarily a problem if they are kept clearly at arms length (such as your once a week office cleaners). The problem arises when they work; primarily for you, with tools you supply, when and how you instruct, then these IC’s can be deemed employees by CRA. This can mean the “employee” loses all their deductions and the “employer” would be required to pay back taxes, withholdings etc.
Many insurance brokers have suggested that these people incorporate to protect the employer they work for, but that in itself does not help. In fact, an incorporated business with up to 5 staff can be deemed a Personal Service Business (PSB) resulting in the highest tax rates and reducing the ability to write off most business expense. As a result, this advice is not just potentially damaging, but it can be a difficult spot to “get out of”.
The article below alerts employers to the fact that CRA will be running a campaign in this area…
The Canada Revenue Agency is escalating their scrutiny of personal services businesses, and the consequences for breaching these tax rules can be severe. Find out what you need to know about the CRA’s campaign.
We’ve seen many changes to employment relationships over the past few years and if you’re an Ontario employer, you may need to revisit employment contracts (working with an employment lawyer and/or an HR professional is best). The article below highlights many of the changes you’ll want to consider.
It is common practice for technology companies to use standard form employment contracts for all staff.1 Often those contracts are precedents from some other source—a prior start up, or even the Internet. Or they may have been provided by a law firm providing legal advice a number of years ago.
Regardless of the source of the standard form, if it has not been updated in the last six months to reflect recent changes in the law, there is a very good chance that some of its key terms are no longer enforceable in Ontario.
If you’re a Mainstay client, you have access to our free HR Resources. If you’re already signed up, great, they just got better (see below). If you haven’t yet, please reach out and we’ll give you a discount code to get you set up.
If you’re an employer with over 25 employees, you’ll want to read this short article as you need a written policy in place by October 2022.
If you’re a Mainstay client, we have provided HR resources that include a sample policy you can adopt to your firm. If you’re not signed up yet, reach out and I’ll give you the code to access the info, which includes complete employee handbook, policy samples and templates.
In the spring, Bill 88, Working for Workers Act, 2022, received Royal Assent and became law. Among other things, Bill 88 amended Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) to require certain employers to ensure, within a specific time frame, that they have a written policy in place for all employees with respect to electronic monitoring of employees (Policy).
On July 13, 2022, in its Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, the Government of Ontario published employer guidance for complying with the Policy. In this Insight, we provide a summary of that guidance in Q & A format.
The Ontario government has extended the IDEL to march 31, 2023.
The post from e2r below provides more information.
If you thought COVID-19 was over, think again.
The majority of our clients are Canadian companies based in Ontario. Some have employees in other provinces and occasionally in the US or abroad. In other cases, the head office is in the US or Europe, and they have smaller offices located here, in Canada, that often represent a small portion of their employees.
For the cases of US employers with Canadian employees, I occasionally provide articles of interest in understanding how our systems are different when it comes to benefits, HR and employment law. this article references a great 48 page book you can obtain (or download).
On June 28, 2022 the McCarthy Tetrault’s Labour and Employment Group, along with leading partners from other practice areas in the Firm, hosted an insightful webinar on key cross-border topics and trends for business. The webinar coincided with the launch of our Cross-Border – Navigating Canadian Employment Law Guidebook.. The following are some highlights from the panelists:.
As a Mainstay client, we provide FREE HR resources for your firm.
If you’re already signed up, GREAT!. This is a reminder that the services are there for you to use.
If you are not signed up, there is more information below and on our site at https://connectsus.com/partner-programs/1002-mainstay-insurance-brokerage, or give us a call.
If you have Ontario employees, please read this article for the required postings each office must have. The link provides a list of all you need to know as well as; posters, sources for documents etc. in order to stay in compliance.
Employers subject to provincial legislation (i.e., not federal employers) that have employees in Ontario often ask about legislative requirements under various employment statutes, including mandatory policies, training, postings, and information sheets under the Employment Standards Act, 2000, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, the Pay Equity Act, the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017, the Working for Workers Act, 2021, and the Working for Workers Act, 2022. To make this information conveniently available, the Littler Toronto office assembled these requirements in a single publication.
We have prepared an update to this publication dated June 20, 2022 (11th edition), which includes new information about the policy on disconnecting from work and information on the new policy on electronic monitoring of employees, which are mandatory for most employers. This edition of the publication also reflects the elimination of COVID-19 restrictions, with the exception of a masking requirement in long-term care and retirement homes. Click here to read the June 2022 update.
A quick to read article on changes affecting Ontario employers.
On Monday, April 11, 2022 Bill 88, the Working for Workers Act, 2022 (the “Act“) received Royal Assent and came into force. The Act is intended to be a part of the Ontario governments continued response to the recommendations contained in a report from the Ontario Workforce Advisory Committee. Previously the government passed Bill 27, Working for Workers Act, 2021 which requires employers with 25 or more employees to implement a right to disconnect policy by June 2, 2022. This Act, like its predecessor, makes several notable changes to the workplace through the creation and modification of legislation.
