Ontario HR association wants exemption from paralegal law

Bill 'not intended' to regulate HR

As a bill to regulate paralegals approaches third reading in the Ontario legislature, questions have risen about whether HR professionals in the province will soon have to be licensed by the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Bill 14, the Access to Justice Act, would, among other things, require paralegals to be licensed by the Law Society. The definition of “paralegal” is so broad that it has raised concerns about the impact on HR professionals. It includes anyone giving legal advice, anyone representing a person in a proceeding before an adjudicative body and anyone negotiating the legal interests, rights and responsibilities of another person.

Also covered are those drafting and revising documents that either affect the legal interests, rights or responsibilities of another or will be used in an adjudicative proceeding.

In other words, the definition could cover “anyone involved in mediation, in union negotiation, in writing contracts or anything where there was a legal content,” said Bill Greenhalgh, CEO of the Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario (HRPAO). “We have no issue with the intent, but it’s so broadly defined that it encompasses a lot of the work that our members do.”

Greenhalgh met with the Standing Committee on Justice Policy last month to raise those concerns. He made a two-fold argument for exempting HR people. The first is that the government might consider narrowing the definition of paralegal.

The second is members of HRPAO are already governed by the act of legislature that created the association in 1990 and should therefore be exempt.

Greenhalgh said the government standing committee seemed to accept that argument. An amendment to the bill states that professions already governed by another act of the legislature are also exempt.

But what does this mean for HR practitioners in Ontario who are not members of the HRPAO? Greenhalgh said he doesn’t know.

“Our representation was purely for our members…if you are a member of an organization or an association already subject to a regulatory framework — regulated by a provincial act, which we are — you are exempt from regulation under that bill,” he said.

Non-members of HRPAO who do not give legal advice in their work may have no reason for concern, he said.

“If I consult in compensation, there’s really no legal implication there. I’m not advising anybody of any law. There may be areas of HR that are totally unaffected, like giving advice on organizational structure or talent management,” said Greenhalgh.

If passed, the bill would give the Law Society of Upper ¬Canada the power to exempt certain professions.

The Law Society was not available for an interview for this story. However, it did issue a statement reassuring that the “paralegal regulation under Bill 14 is not intended to regulate HR professionals. The objective of the legislation is to regulate independent paralegals providing advocacy services.”

The statement also noted that an amendment also exempts “an employee or officer of a corporation who selects, drafts, completes or revises a document.”

At the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) in Toronto, Steven Rosenhek said his impression is the Law Society has no intention of regulating professions such as HR. As chair of the OBA Paralegals Task Force, Rosenhek has also had discussions with the Law Society to make sure that only the professions targeted by the law’s intent — paralegals — were to be regulated.

As far as non-members of HRPAO are concerned, Rosenhek thinks they may have to make submissions to the Law Society to be exempted.

There have been many professional groups that have expressed similar concerns, including mortgage brokers, real estate professionals, trustees in bankruptcies, union representatives, mediators and patent trademark agents.

“This was obviously a significant concern expressed by a lot of non-lawyer groups — that they should be exempt,” said Rosenhek. “So I think where a profession is not subject to self-regulating legislation, we’ll have to rely on the Law Society’s good judgement to make sure the legislation really only captures those people intended to be captured.”


Legislation
What Bill 14 would mean for paralegals

Under Bill 14, paralegals would be:

•required to complete an approved college program, including a field placement, and pass a licensing examination;

•required to adhere to a code of conduct, carry insurance and contribute to a compensation fund;

•subject to a process for receiving and investigating consumer complaints, similar to the system already in place for lawyers;

•subject to the same types of penalties lawyers face, including the possible loss of their licence, if found to have engaged in misconduct.

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