Ontario Bill 148, Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 Proposes Considerable Changes To Equal Pay For Equal Work Provisions

The recently released Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act (Bill 148) proposes considerable changes to Ontario's Employment Standards Act (ESA), including a number of new equal pay for equal work provisions.

If passed, Bill 148 would considerably expand the current ESA equal pay provisions, which only contemplate equal pay between the sexes. In particular, the proposed sections mandate that casual, part-time, temporary, seasonal and full-time employees be paid equally when performing the same job for the same employer. Employees from a temporary help agency who perform substantially the same work as an employee of the temporary help agency's client would also be paid equally to the client's employee. Bill 148 precludes employers from reducing the rate of pay of an employee in order to comply with the equal pay provisions.