Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2008 Hampton, Howard — Bill 71 (39th Parliament, 1st Session)

Bill 71, 39-1

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Bill 71, Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2008

Hampton, Howard

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[39] Bill 71 Original (PDF)

Bill 71 2008

Act to amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000

Note:

This Act amends the Employment Standards Act, 2000 . For the legislative

history of the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public Statutes – Detailed

Legislative History on www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

Her

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

1. Subsection

58 (1) of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 is

repealed and the following substituted:

Notice,

50 or more employees

(1) Despite

section 57, if the employer

terminates the employment of 50 or more employees at the employer's establishment

in the same four-week period, the employer shall give notice of termination, in

the prescribed manner,

(

a) when

a mass layoff agreement has been signed in accordance with subsections (1.1)

and (1.2),

(

i) at

least 16 weeks before the termination, if the number of employees whose

employment is terminated is 50 or more but fewer than 200,

(ii) at

least 20 weeks before the termination, if the number of employees whose

employment is terminated is 200 or more but fewer than 500, and

(iii) at

least 24 weeks before the termination, if the number of employees whose

employment is terminated is 500 or more; or

(

b) if

no mass layoff agreement has been signed in accordance with subsections

(1.1) and (1.2), at least 52 weeks before the termination.

Mass

layoff agreement, mandatory provisions

(1.1) A mass layoff agreement shall deal with,

(

a) retraining

packages;

(

b) severance

enhancements;

(

c) termination

pay;

(

d) early

retirement;

(

e) plant-saving

restructuring options, including worker buyouts;

(

f) transfers

to other establishments of the employer; and

(

g) any

other prescribed matter.

Same,

execution

(1.2) A mass layoff agreement shall be signed,

(

a) by

the employer; and

(

b) on

behalf of the employees whose employment is terminated,

(

i) by

every trade union representing any of the employees, and

(ii) by

every employee who is not represented by a trade union, or by the employee's

duly appointed representative.

2. (1) Subsections

64 (1) and (2) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:

Entitlement

to severance pay

(1) An employer who severs an employment relationship with

an employee shall pay severance pay to the employee if the employee was

employed by the employer for one year or more and,

(

a) the

severance occurred because of a permanent discontinuance of all or part of the

employer's business at an establishment and the employee is one of 25 or more

employees who have their employment relationship severed within a six-month

period as a result; or

(

b) the

employer has a payroll of $1 million or more.

Payroll

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an employer shall

be considered to have a payroll of $1 million or more if,

(

a) the

total wages earned by all of the employer's employees in the four weeks that

ended with the last day of the last pay period completed prior to the severance

of an employee's employment, when multiplied by 13, was $1 million or more; or

(

b) the

total wages earned by all of the employer's employees in the last or second-last

fiscal year of the employer prior to the severance of an employee's employment

was $1 million or more.

(2) Clause 64 (4) (

c) of the Act is amended by striking

out "50 or more employees" and substituting "25 or more employees".

3. (1) Subsection

65 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out "a regular work week" in the

portion before clause (

a) and substituting "two regular work weeks".

(2) Subsection 65 (5) of the Act is repealed.

(3) Subsection 65 (6) of the Act is amended by striking

out "subsections (1) and (5)" in the portion before clause (

a) and substituting

"subsection (1)".

Commencement

4. This

Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

5. The

short title of this Act is the Employment Standards

Amendment Act, 2008 .

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Bill makes several amendments to the Employment Standards

Act, 2000 .

Subsection

58 (1) of the Act requires an employer who terminates the employment of 50 or

more employees in the same four-week period to give notice of termination "for

the prescribed period". Notice periods are prescribed in Ontario Regulation

288/01, which requires eight weeks notice if up to 199 employees are being

terminated, 12 weeks notice for 200 to 499 employees, and 16 weeks for 500 or

more employees. The Bill provides for increased notice periods (16, 20 and 24

weeks, respectively), building them into the Act itself, and adds the

requirement of a mass layoff agreement between labour and management, dealing

with such matters as retraining and restructuring options. If no mass layoff

agreement is reached, a uniform 52-week notice period applies instead of the

16, 20 and 24-week periods.

Section

64 of the Act provides that an employee is entitled to severance pay if he or

she has worked for the employer for at least five years and the employer has a

payroll of at least $2.5 million. The Bill reduces the qualifying period of

employment to one year and the payroll level to $1 million.

Under

section 65 of the Act, severance pay is calculated as one week's pay for each

year of employment. The Bill increases this to two weeks' pay for each year of

employment. Subsection 65 (5) of the Act, which caps severance pay at a

26-week maximum, is repealed.

Date Bill stage Activity Committee

May 7, 2008

First Reading

Carried on division

Debates and Progress

First Reading

May 7, 2008

Carried on division.

Second Reading

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent :

Coming into force :

Royal Assent.

Acts affected - Bill 71

Most Ontario public acts are available electronically; to view copies of the Acts to be amended by this bill visit e-laws

Employment Standards Act, 2000

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

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Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 71, 39-1
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p39 s1 bill 71 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	737edd2f2e379b46233e4dc3e96fc9a51c39c773

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (html).