Working for Workers Five Act Receives Royal Assent

As previously discussed, Ontario’s Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 (Bill 190) received royal assent. Bill 190, which received royal assent on October 28, 2024, amends several statutes, including the Employment Standards Act, 2000, the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.

Employment Standards Act, 2000

The following amendments are now in effect:

• Employers cannot require an employee to provide a certificate from a qualified health practitioner as evidence of their entitlement to ESA sick leave.
• The maximum fine for an individual convicted of violating the ESA is increased from $50,000 to $100,000.

The following amendments come into force on a date to be proclaimed in the future:

• Every publicly advertised job posting must include a statement on whether the posting is for an existing vacancy. This requirement may be subject to prescribed exemptions.
• An employer who interviews an applicant for a publicly advertised job posting must provide the applicant with prescribed information within a prescribed time period -the content of which still needs to be set out by the government.

Occupational Health and Safety Act 

The following amendments are now in effect:

• The OHSA applies to telework performed in or around a private residence. Additional amendments exclude any office in a private residence from the definition of an “industrial establishment.”
• The definition of workplace harassment and workplace sexual harassment is expanded to include harassment that occurs in a workplace “virtually through the use of information and communications technology.”

• An employer can post the names and work locations of joint health and safety committee members in a readily accessible electronic format rather than in the physical workplace.
• Joint health and safety committee meetings can now occur remotely
• An employer may post its workplace health and safety policy in a readily accessible electronic format, rather than in the physical workplace.
• An employer may post a copy of the OHSA and any explanatory material in a readily accessible electronic format, rather than in the physical workplace. Employers must post these materials in both English and the majority language of the workplace.

The following amendment will come into effect on a date to be proclaimed in the future:

• An employer is required to ensure that any washroom facilities provided for worker use are maintained in a clean and sanitary condition. The employer is also required to maintain cleaning records.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997

The following amendment is now in effect:

• Presumptive coverage for post-traumatic stress disorder is extended to wildland firefighters and wildland fire investigators.

The following amendment comes into effect on a date to be proclaimed in the future:

• Presumptive coverage for primary-site skin cancer is extended to prescribed firefighters and fire investigators, provided the worker had at least 10 years of service before being diagnosed.

Should you have any questions about the amendments introduced by Bill 190 and how they may impact your workplace, please contact a member of KMB’s employment law department.