Rapid Policy Update: Hamilton Chamber & Ontario Employer Groups Call on Provincial Government to “Keep Ontario Working”

· by Huzaifa Saeed

On July 27th, 2016 released details on its ongoing Changing Workplace Review.

Should Employers and Employees Be Concerned?

Following the release of the Changing Workplace Review, Ontario employers are collectively voicing their concerns about several policy recommendations being considered by the provincial government due to the profound impact these proposals will have on every workplace in Ontario.

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC ) in partnership with other employer groups are calling on the Government of Ontario to reject several policy proposals, which are now part of the Interim Report of the Changing Workplaces Review.

While welcoming the release of the report, the employer coalition has shared a statement to draw attention to particular areas of concern where the coalition’s advocacy will focus:


Employer Coalition Advocacy Priorities
Keep Ontario Working will address several policy options in the interim report that the government is considering, including:

  1. Education and Enforcement: A critical first step in improving workplaces for Ontarians is increased education and enforcement of Ontario’s existing labour laws.
  2. Scheduling Provisions: Options that would create rigid and universal requirements and a one-size-fits-all approach to scheduling fail to recognize the diverse needs of Ontario’s workforce.
  3. Labour Certification Rules: The requirement for a secret ballot vote must be maintained. Certification simply by signing a union card diminishes employees’ rights and transparency.
  4. Sector Exemptions: The interim report includes options that would provide for changes to sectoral exemptions. Doing so would ignore the unique needs of important industries like agriculture and information technology when it comes to flexible scheduling and compensation.
  5. Joint/Common Employers: Changing the current legal standard for determination of common employers represents a fundamental disruption to the current relationship between employees and employers.
  6. Sectoral Bargaining: Options that would impose standards and contractual provisions throughout identified regional/ occupational/ industrial labour markets would expand collective bargaining among disjointed groups of employers and employees.
  7. Minimum Standards: Employers who provide a greater set of workplace benefits than those currently set out in legislation are relieved from providing the prescribed benefit level.The interim report includes an option to move away from this approach, potentially leaving both employers and employees uncertain of benefit entitlements and unfairly treating those greater benefits as being additive rather than replacing the minimum standards.

For more information on the Keep Ontario Working initiative, please visit http://www.KeepOntarioWorking.ca, If you are interested in joining the Keep Ontario Working coalition, please contact: Huzaifa Saeed


What’s Next?

In the coming months, Ontario’s leading industry and sector associations will work together through the Keep Ontario Working initiative to motivate employers and employees alike to take a more active interest in the Changing Workplaces Review and ensure that we are improving legislation to support workers’ rights and a prosperous economy. The Keep Ontario Working initiative is comprised of the province’s leading employer bodies, including:

  1. Association of Canadian Search, Employment and Staffing Services
  2. Canadian Franchise Association
  3. Food & Beverage Ontario
  4. National Association of Canadian Consulting Businesses
  5. Ontario Chamber of Commerce
  6. Ontario Forest Industries Association
  7. Ontario Restaurant, Hotel & Motel Association
  8. Restaurants Canada
  9. Retail Council of Canada
  10. Tourism Industry Association of Ontario
  11. Other employers and employer groups.

With the Interim Report of the Changing Workplaces Review released today, the Special Advisors will begin a period of taking public comment before preparing a final report for Ontario’s Minister of Labour, the Hon. Kevin Flynn. The two Special Advisors leading the consultations: C. Michael Mitchell, formerly of Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP, and the Honourable John C. Murray, a former justice of the Ontario Superior Court and prominent management labour lawyer.


For further information about this initiative, please contact:

Ontario Chamber of Commerce: Karl Baldauf or Dylan Marando

Hamilton Chamber of Commerce: Huzaifa Saeed | Policy & Research Analyst | e: h.saeed@hamiltonchamber.ca | t: 905-522-1151 ext: 230