Legislation amending ESA now in effect
Under new legislation now in force in Ontario, most "elect-to-work" employees have the right to notice of termination and severance pay.
Bill 139, which amends Ontario's Employment Standards Act, will ensure temporary help agency employees are treated fairly and have a better chance to move to sustainable employment.
However, community care access corporations will be exempt from the notice requirement.
The changes deliver more fairness for vulnerable temporary help agency employees by:
• ensuring they are not unfairly prevented from accessing permanent jobs when agency clients want to hire them from agencies
• prohibiting temporary help agencies from charging fees to employees for things such as resumé writing and interview preparation
• guaranteeing employees have the information they need about their assignments including pay schedules and job descriptions
• requiring agencies to provide employees with information about their new rights under the Employment Standards Act.
There are more than 640,000 people in Ontario working in temporary jobs, many through temporary help agencies.
There are about 1,000 temporary help agencies currently operating in Ontario.
