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ARTICLE · 18 MAY 2018

Collective Agreement Benefits vs. Paid Emergency Leave – First Look After Bill 148

Aird & Berlis LLP
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Arbitrator Mitchnick considered how labour arbitrators should compare and offset the benefits bestowed by collective agreements with those required by the ESA.

CanadaEmployment and HR
Michael Horvat
Michael Horvat
Fiona Brown
Fiona Brown
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Bill 148 introduced, for the first time in Ontario, a requirement that all employers provide paid leave for the first two days of Personal Emergency Leave ("PEL") taken by an employee in a calendar year. Labour arbitrators are frequently tasked with examining the interplay between the benefits provided under a union collective agreement and the minimum employment protections and benefits set out in the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the "ESA"). The recent decision of Arbitrator Mitchnick in USW, Local 2020 and Bristol Machine Works Ltd. (GB-01-18), Re ("USW") has provided a first look at how arbitrators may balance the new benefits introduced under Bill 148 with existing benefits provided by Ontario employers.

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