“Ontario allowing employers to fire workers without cause” / Sara Mojtehedzadeh (Toronto Star, May 17, 2015)
Toronto injured worker Gordon Butler asked his employer, a small construction company in Markham, for one day off work after he sliced his thumb open on the job. His boss told him not to come back…. Third of a four-part series (Precariously employed : reforming Ontario’s Employment Standards Act) discusses legal loopholes that leave workers exposed, especially the non-unionized. At least 45 occupations, many associated with precarious low-wage work, remain exempt from various basic entitlements under the Act. Among the gaps are lack of protection against wrongful dismissal and entitlement to paid sick leave. As reported by the Workers’ Action Centre, in Ontario 1.6 million non-unionized employees lack the right to even one unpaid job-protected sick day.
The government has recently released a list of public consultation meetings (Jun. 16 – Sep. 18) for its Changing Workplaces Review to consider how the Labour Relations Act, 1995 and Employment Standards Act, 2000 could be amended for better worker protection. The Workers’ Action Centre report “Still Working on the Edge” identifies key problems and “brings workers’ voices, experiences and recommendations to this conversation.”
