The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

w w w .insidehalton.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, June 2 , 2 0 1 7 11 0 Flynn at helm as Ontario eyes sweeping labour change continued from p.1 traducing paid sick days for every worker and ramping up enforcement of employment laws. The proposed changes are in response to the final report of the Changing Workplaces Re view, which made 173 recommendations and was conducted by special advisors C. Michael Mitchell and John C. Murray during a two-year period. It is the first-ever independent review of the Employment Standards Act 20 00 and Labour Relations Act 1995. Flynn called the plan a "real victory for or dinary Ontarians," w ho have struggled to re cover from economic hardships in the 2 0 08 -0 9 global recession. "The little guy felt like they just weren't be ing treated well. As the recovery took place, the little guy, again, felt like there was a lot of assis tance being given to business. There was a lot of assistance being given to people w ho were already doing pretty well," said Flynn, noting the Province may be introducing the plan in the Flouse as early as this week. "It's been a long time coming. I spent the last two years looking forward to this day when we can take the advice from the advisors and we could prepare our response to it as a govern ment." Since the last examination of the Employ ment Standards and Labour Relations acts, which was 2 0 -2 5 years ago, Flynn said the workforce has changed "quite significantly." Whereas the norm used to be graduating from post-secondary school with a diploma/ degree, or acquiring an apprenticeship through skills training, which led to securing a full-time job for many years, this is no longer the case, Ontario's labour minister pointed out. tario, you can't live well on $1 1.40 an hour. In fact, you can't really live at all without some sort of assistance. You've got to pay rent, buy clothes for the kids, you've got to buy groceries, all those normal things people buy," said Flynn. "A n increasing amount of people were finding the money was running out before the month ended. People were starting to lose hope." labour unions. "They provided us with some advice and we were able to listen to that advice and present a report yesterday (M ay 30 ) that I think really meets the needs of both (employers and em ployees)," said Flynn. "It ensures our workplaces remain competi tive and the people w ho are working part-time now are paid the same way as somebody who is working full-time." currently struggling with a difficult economy and high utility prices," said Sidney Chelsky, OFA executive director, in a letter to Wynne. In southern Ontario, or anywhere in Ontario, you can't live well on $11.40 an hour. In fact, you can't really live at all without some sort of assistance. You've got to pay rent, buy clothes for the kids, you've got to buy groceries, all those normal things people buy. An increasing amount of people were finding the money was running out before the month ended. People were starting to lose hope. n Ontario Labour Minister Kevin Flynn Oakville MPP Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn was at the helm as Ontario Labour Minister this week as Premier Kathleen Wynne outlined numerous sweeping changes proposed for labour laws in the province. The Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel As sociation (O R H M A ) doesn't believe this is the "best time" to overhaul Ontario' s hospitality industry and add new costs, stated in its media release. It opposes the announced 32 per cent increase of minimum wage over 18 months. "The Premier has clearly not considered the sustainment of our economic model with rigid price point limitations in a highly-competitive environment. Ontario' s restaurants have the lowest profit margins in all of Canada," stated Tony Elenis, O RH M A CEO and president. | Metroland file photo Province is on `right track': elementary teachers W hile there are numerous groups opposed to the plan, the government does have support ers - the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) is one of them. In a media release, the union stated the Province is on the "right track" to creating bet ter working conditions through its proposed changes to the labour and employment laws. "W e need to see draft legislation on these and other issues to ensure the desired outcomes ad vocated by the labour movement are achieved," said Sam Hammond, ETFO president. Other new measures include: · Mandating equal pay for part-time, tempo rary, casual and seasonal employees doing the same job as full-time employees; equal pay for temporary help agency employees doing the same job as permanent employees at the agen cies' client companies · Expanding personal emergency leave to in clude an across-the-board minimum of at least two paid days per year for all workers · Bringing Ontario' s vacation time into line with the national average by ensuring at least three weeks' vacation after five years with a company · Making employee scheduling fairer, in cluding requiring employees to be paid for three hours of work if their shift is cancelled within 4 8 hours of its scheduled start time. The government will also propose measures to expand family leaves and ensure employees are not mis-classified as independent contrac tors, so they receive benefits. To implement these changes, the Province will hire up to 175 additional employment stan dards officers and launch a program to educate both employees and small- and medium-sized businesses about their rights and obligations under the Employment Standards Act. During the Changing Workplaces Review, Flynn "actively encouraged" businesses to come forward and provide input, particularly chambers of commerce, he said, as meetings were held with them, businesses and organized New reality of employment "The reality is just something entirely dif ferent today. There are a lot of young people entering the workforce and finding it' s not the workforce of the 1990s or the workforce in the early 2 000s," said Flynn, adding there is now a lot of contract, part-time and temporary agency work. In 2016, the median hourly wage in Ontario was $13 for part-time workers and $24.73 for full-time workers. In the past 30 years, part-time work has grown to represent nearly 20 per cent of total employment, according to the Province. "There sometimes isn't enough work to al low somebody the security to make some of the decisions that m y generation made, about starting a family, buying a house, maybe rent ing a condo. There is an increasing amount of younger people having to live at home these days," said Flynn. Oakville Chamber among many with concerns The Oakville Chamber, along with the cham bers of commerce and boards of trade across the province, has however expressed concern that the Fair Workplaces and Better Jobs Plan com mits to an extensive reform without ensuring protection against "unintended consequences," such as job losses, rising consumer costs, rising business costs and economic hardship, it noted in a statement to the O a k v ille B ea v er. "W e share the government' s desire for eco nomic growth, however, in order to achieve this, we need to ensure a competitive environ ment for business in Ontario," stated John Saw yer, Oakville Chamber president. "W e will work together with government to identify the scale of the economic impact on business and help employers transition to fol low the new regulations." `No discernible effect' on small business: Flynn For the most part, Flynn said Ontario busi nesses will be "largely unaffected" by the work place review. After researching and looking at studies, the Province found there is "no discernible effect" of a minimum wage increase on small businesses. "At the end of the day, you get more people spending m oney in the community. You get higher employee satisfaction, you get greater retention, much less turnover in companies," said Flynn. "The reports we've looked at largely tell us that what we're doing is a benefit to the econo my," said the minister. The Province is also proposing a broad con sultation process to get feedback from a widevariety of stakeholders on the draft legislation it intends to introduce. To facilitate this consultation, it is proposing to send the legislation to committee after First Reading. Weighing in with feedback The Ontario Fabricare Association (OFA) also registered "grave concerns" with the plan, particularly on the minimum wage increase, matching funds to finance Canada Pension Plan, OHIP and other payroll taxes, among others, as stated in its media release. "This policy will cause havoc in the dry- and wet-cleaning industry, as well as many other small businesses. M ost of the operators in our industry are small family businesses, which are Minimum wage "There is an increasing amount of young people relying on the minimum wage to try to raise families." Under the new proposed plan, minimum wage would jum p to $ 1 4 an hour as of Jan. 1, 20 1 8 and then to $15 on Jan. 1 ,2 0 1 9 , followed by annual increases at the rate of inflation. "In southern Ontario, or anywhere in On