Changing Workplaces Review – Final Report: Potential Impact On Franchises

The Final Report has just been released for the Changing Workplaces Review, containing recommendations for legislative changes to Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 and Labour Relations Act, 1995. A number of changes are either specific to franchises or may have an impact depending on the sector of the franchise and the way the franchise operates. Here we have summarized recommendations that are most relevant franchisors.

Recommendations concerning the Ontario Labour Relations Act, 1995 ("LRA"):

1. Broader Based Bargaining: The Final Report recommends that the Ontario Labour Relations Board be given certain powers to implement a model of centralized bargaining, where the terms of a collective agreement between a franchisee and a union could be extended to apply (with or without modifications) to a newly certified bargaining unit of another franchisee of the same franchisor. The Board would also have the power to require that the franchisee employers bargain