Overview
Ontario Bill 229, the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024, received Royal Assent on December 19, 2024, less than one month after it was first introduced on November 27, 2024. This article reviews the resulting amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) and the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and relevant coming-into-force information. For our prior summary of these amendments, please see our earlier post here.
Changes that came into force on December 19, 2024
Occupational Health and Safety Act
Under the OHSA, the main changes that are now in force are as follows:
New fines for second or subsequent offences. Bill 229 imposes a new minimum fine of $500,000 for any corporation found guilty of a second or subsequent offence under the OHSA that results in the death or serious injury of one or more workers in a two-year period.
Properly fitting PPE for women in all sectors. Bill 229 requires employers to ensure women workers in all sectors are provided with properly fitted personal protective clothing/equipment (i.e. “PPE”).
New powers of the Chief Prevention Officer
Bill 229 provides the CPO with new powers in respect of the following matters:
- Establishment of criteria for assessing and approving training programs delivered outside of Ontario for equivalency;
- Establishing policies related to general training requirements under the OHSA;
- Seeking advice from an advisory committee established by the Ministry; and
- Collection and use of personal information for the purpose of developing, monitoring or reporting on a provincial health and safety strategy or for the purpose of providing advice on the prevention of workplace injury and occupational disease.
Changes that will come into force later
Employment Standards Act, 2000
Under the ESA, the changes that will come into force later are as follows:
New parental leave
Bill 229 creates a new unpaid and job-protected parental leave under the ESA for parents who have a child or children through adoption or surrogacy. This would be called “placement of a child leave.”
Under this new leave, an employee who has been employed by an employer for at least 13 weeks would be entitled to up to 16 weeks of unpaid leave because of the arrival of a child (or children) into an employee’s care through adoption or surrogacy. This time off would be required to be taken consecutively. Where more than one parent is employed at the same employer, the leave is shared between the employees. Adoptive parents and parents via surrogacy would also be eligible for 62 weeks of parental leave following the placement of a child leave.
This change will come into effect on Proclamation. This date is not yet known.
New long-term illness leave
Bill 229 creates a new unpaid and job-protected sick leave under the ESA for employees who are unable to work due to “a serious medical condition.”
Under this new leave, an employee who has been employed by an employer for at least 13 weeks who is unable to work due to a serious medical condition would be entitled to up to 27 weeks of unpaid leave in a 52 week period. Although This time off could be taken nonconsecutively, with a single day of leave counting as a full week. The serious medical condition and the period during which the employee will not be performing their duties must be confirmed by a certificate from a physician, a registered nurse or a psychologist. If an employee still has a serious medical condition after the 52-week period expires, the employee is entitled to take another 27-week leave.
This change will come into force on June 19, 2025.
Occupational Health and Safety Act
Under the OHSA, the changes that will come into force later are as follows:
Worker trades committees. Bill 229 allows the Minister to make orders in respect of worker trades committees at construction projects . This change will come into force on January 1, 2025.
This publication provides general information and should not be relied on as legal advice or opinion. This publication is copyrighted by Hunter Legal LLP and may not be photocopied or reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the express permission of Hunter Legal LLP.