Bill 18, Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act, introduced a number of measures to protect the more vulnerable employees. These included minimum wage increases, extending occupational safety coverage to unpaid interns and trainees, addressing wage recovery for unpaid workers and improving employment protections for foreign workers. Schedule 5 was intended to address liability in case of injury between temporary help agencies and client employers of the injured worker.
Under the existing system injury costs are assigned to the temporary help agency, encouraging some employers under experience rating to outsource more risky jobs. In response to objections from the employer community amendments at the Committee stage the original wording was watered down. Rather than enact liability changes into legislation, it now only “allows” the government to make regulations requiring the WSIB to attribute costs to client employers.