This page contains archived content. The information may be outdated or contain links to material
that is no longer available.
Bill 47 – Archived Content
Bill 47
On November 21, 2018, the Ontario government passed Bill 47, Making Ontario Open For Business Act. This act eliminates many of the labour reforms brought in through provisions in Bill 148, Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act.
Here is a listing of the changes made through the act that will affect the nonprofit sector:
- Cancels the minimum wage increase to $15/hour Instead Bill 47 puts a pause on any increases to the minimum wage for 33 months, and starting sometime in 2020 there begin annual increases tied to the rate of inflation
- Keeps Sexual/Domestic Violence Leave but cancels the rest of the Emergency Leave provision, replacing it with three days for personal illness, two for bereavement and three for family leave, for a total of eight days, all unpaid. In terms of sick leave, employers may now once again ask employees for a sick note
- Keeps the provision for three weeks’ vacation for employees with five years of service with the same workplace
- Returns the calculation of public holiday pay calculation to the formula that was used pre-Bill 148
- Repeals the provision that extended card-based union certification to the temporary help agency industry and the home care and community services sector and instead returns to the secret ballot process
- Equal pay for equal work between part and full time staff has been repealed
- Will maintain the exemption to the Employment Standards Act that allowed for sheltered workshops in Ontario and exempted their workers from minimum wages and overtime pay. Bill 47 does state that the repeal of this exemption will come into force on proclamation, which essentially means when the government decides on a date and not necessarily when Bill 47 is passed into law
