Human Resources Legislative Update
Certain Employment Standards Act, 2000 Amendments Take Effect June 21, 2024
Date: June 11, 2024
On March 21, 2024, Ontario’s Bill 149, Working for Workers Four Act, 2024 (Bill 149) received Royal Assent. Our FTR Now of that date provided an overview of this legislation. A number of the amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) contained in Bill 149 take effect June 21, 2024 and are outlined below.
Effective June 21, 2024:
- An employer must pay any tip or gratuity by cash, cheque payable to the employee, direct deposit or any other prescribed method. If paid by direct deposit, the account in which the pay is deposited must meet the requirements of the ESA.
- If an employer has a tip policy where the employer or a director or shareholder of the employer shares in a “tip pool,” the policy must be in writing and posted in the workplace and retained for three years after it ceases to be in effect.
- Clarifying amendments made to the vacation pay provisions to confirm that any permissible alternate pay arrangement agreed to between an employer and employee must be in writing.
- A clarifying amendment made to the direct deposit provisions to confirm that, if payment is made by direct deposit, in addition to being in the employee’s name and being accessible only to the employee or a person authorized by the employee, the account must be one selected by the employee.
Other amendments to the ESA introduced by Bill 149, including those that relate to an employer’s obligation to disclose expected compensation information in any publicly advertised job posting, will come into effect in the future on proclamation. These are reviewed in more detail in our earlier FTR Now.
We will continue to monitor Bill 149 and provide an update when further key amendments are proclaimed in force. If you have any questions about these amendments or how they may impact your workplace, please contact your regular Hicks Morley lawyer.
The article in this client update provides general information and should not be relied on as legal advice or opinion. This publication is copyrighted by Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP and may not be photocopied or reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the express permission of Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP. ©
