Part-Time Employees Must Be Paid At The Same Rate As Full-Time Employees: 2018 Equal-Pay-For-Equal-Work Provisions

Formerly, the Employment Standards Act, 2000, S.O. 2000, c. 41 (the "ESA") did not require an employer to compensate a part-time, temporary, casual or contract employee the same as full-time employees doing substantially similar work. Bill 148, which introduced a number of significant updates to the ESA, has changed that.

Effective April 1, 2018, section 42.1 of the ESA now provides that no employer can pay an employee at a rate of pay less than the rate paid to another employee because of a difference in employment status when:

• they perform substantially the same kind of work in the same establishment;
• their performance requires substantially the same skill, effort and responsibility; and