Improved Protections for Workers in Precarious Employment
The way work is organized has changed drastically over the last 30 years. Today, one in three jobs in Ontario is temporary, contract, part time or self employed. Working in these jobs, we are often denied basic protections and rights – for example, public holiday pay, access to employment insurance, much less pay than permanent workers doing the same jobs, adequate health & safety coverage.
Outdated labour laws trap people in poverty and deny fair standards to all workers.
Our labour laws must be updated to include and protect people who work in temporary, contract and unstable work.
WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW
LAW COMMISSION OF ONTARIO'S CONSULTATION ON PRECARIOUS WORK
In February 2011, the Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) announced their intention to undertake a broad based consultation on precarious employment. The Workers’ Action Centre is participating on the Advisory Committee which helps to guide the consultative process with workers, employers, government, academics and the public at large. The LCO’s project on “Vulnerable Workers and Precarious Work” is focusing on the nature of precarious work, the identity of vulnerable workers, the degree of legal protections afforded to workers in precarious work as well as enforcement of labour standards. The consultation will also examine the impact of precarious work on the daily lives of workers and their families.
As part of this project, The Law Commission of Ontario released a Consultation Paper and a more detailed Background Paper on February 17 and is interested in receiving written comments. The deadline for submissions has been extended to May 16, 2011.
To view the Consultation Paper and Background Paper and for information on how to participate, please visit the Law Commission of Ontario website.
PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN ON NEW TEMP RIGHTS
WAC is reaching out to communities across the GTA, and working with our provincial allies, to get the word out about the new changes for temp workers which came into effect November 2009.
Is your agency following the new laws? Under the new changes:
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Temp agency workers have the same rights to public holiday as other workers (as of January 2, 2009!)
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Agencies cannot charge temp agency workers fees
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Agencies cannot stop a company from hiring a temp agency worker directly or from giving a reference. Agencies can only charge a company a fee for hiring a temp agency worker in the first 6 months of a workers’ assignment with the company
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The agency must give temp agency workers information about their assignment
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Temp workers will have the same rights to termination and severance pay as other workers
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Temp agency workers can go after both the company and the temp agency if they are penalized for trying to enforce their basic rights
While we celebrate these new legal rights as a victory, these new rights are not enough to truly protect us. We still have big changes to fight for – better enforcement, updating our laws, equal rights for temp workers and all precarious workers!
WAC RESOURCES
Proposed Amendments to Bill 139 – An Act to amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (March 2009)
WAC Submission to the Ministry of Labour Consultation on Work Through Temporary Help Agencies (June 2008)
WAC Submission to the Minister of Finance, Dwight Duncan, on priorities for the Ontario 2008 budget. (January 2008)
Working on the Edge (May 2007) – WAC 82-page research report documents workers’ experiences of precarious work (temp, contract, self-employed), and contains detailed recommendations for change.
Modernizing Part III of the Canada Labour Code (2005)
Breaking the Myth of Flexible Work (2000)
Victoria Day rally against Bad Temp Bosses not paying public holiday pay
