Ontario proposes $15 an hour minimum wage from January 2019

She was speaking at a press conference on Tuesday.

If this proposed changes are adopted then Ontario would become the second province after Alberta to go ahead with $15 an hour minimum wage.

Premier Wynne said that this wage increase is a part of a wide ranging amendment of Ontario’s Employment Standard Act and Labour Relation Act.

Wynne said that the province's economy is strong and growing and with the nature of work has changed many workers were left to struggle to support their families on part-time, contract or minimum-wage work.

The premier further added that workers in Ontario have the right to strong protections at work and assured that these legislative changes seek to create more opportunity and security for workers across Ontario.

The province’s minimum wage increase will be phased-in gradually.

It will rise from $11.40 currently to $11.60 in October.

The government proposed it will then push it up to $14 an hour on Jan. 1, 2018 and finally $15 an hour from 2019.

With the labour activists and her patrons cheering the new wage hike, Premier Wynne in a campaign-style setting, said, “Right now, 10 per cent of workers in our province earn the minimum wage of $11.40. Thirty per cent earn less than $15 an hour. That’s millions of people, many of them supporting a family on a wage that just doesn’t go far enough.”

She said that the proposed legislation -- The Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 -- would ensure that casual, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees are paid equally to full-time employees when performing the same job for the same employer.

The proposed amendments would enable employees to request a review of their wages if they believe that they are not receiving equal wages to full-time employees. The employer would have to respond to the request with either an adjustment in pay or a written explanation.

If the proposed legislation is passed, this proposal would come into force on April 1, 2018.

Then  the new legislation would also ensure that Temporary Help Agency (THA) employees are paid equally to permanent employees of the THA client when performing the same job.

The changes would protect assignment employees from repercussions for inquiring about their wage rate or the wage rate of an employee of the client.

Among the most notable changes proposed in the new legislation is the requirement that after five years with the same employer, the minimum vacation entitlement for workers would rise to three weeks per year.

All workers would also be given 10 personal emergency leave days a year, and a minimum of two of those days must be paid.

This benefit is currently enjoyed by employees of large companies only.

Employers would not be allowed to request a sick note from an employee taking personal emergency leave.

Labour Minister Kevin Flynn said their government will table the proposed legislation before the house rises for the summer this week, with plans to send it to committee for consultations around the province over the summer.

Flynn  also added that even though some of the changes — including the $15 minimum wage and rules concerning work scheduling — will come to
into force after the next election, they’re not contingent on the Liberals being re-elected.

Reporting by Suman Das

Image: CBC news.