• allow the Director of Employment Standards to require claimants to provide specified information and let their employer know about their complaint before the claim is assigned to an officer;
• authorize employment standards officers to attempt settlements of complaints; and
• allow officers to make decisions on claims when parties fail to attend decision-making meetings or provide evidence on time.

As previously reported, Bill 110 is omnibus legislation that would, if passed, make a number of amendments to various Acts, including several employment-related statutes.

Bill 68 also amends the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, by repealing paragraph 10 of subsection 4(1) and replacing it with "To develop standards for training about first aid".  This amendment will come into force when Bill 68 receives Royal Assent.

• clarify that in the section 22(1) overtime provision of the Employment Standards Act, 2000, the overtime rate is to be calculated based on excess hours in each “work week” as opposed to each “week” (which is likely consistent with current employer practices for overtime calculation);
• change the name of documents now called “material safety data sheets” for the purposes of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (which are required in workplaces where hazardous substances are present) to “safety data sheets”; and
• amend the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 to: (a) address when payments for loss of retirement income and compensation for non-economic loss are paid as lump sums or as periodic payments; (b) provide employees with notice and an opportunity to object before the Board gives a worker’s employer a copy of a physician’s report about the worker’s permanent impairment under section 47; and (c) expand the category of persons who are entitled to access to documents when there is an issue in dispute and the worker is deceased.

As previously reported, Bill 68 is omnibus legislation that would amend Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 as follows:

• to allow the Director of Employment Standards to require claimants to provide specific information and let their employer know about their complaint before the claim is assigned to an officer;
• authorize employment standards officers to attempt settlements of complaints; and
• allow officers to make decisions on claims when parties fail to attend decision-making meetings or provide evidence on time.

More information about Bill 68 and its potential impact on employers is available in our news item, "Employment Standards Changes in the Offing".

As previously reported, Bill 68 is omnibus legislation that would amend Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 to allow the Director of Employment Standards to require claimants to provide specific information and let their employer know about their complaint before the claim is assigned to an officer; authorize employment standards officers to attempt settlements of complaints; and allow officers to make decisions on claims when parties fail to attend decision-making meetings or provide evidence on time.

• allow the Director of Employment Standards to require claimants to provide specific information and let their employer know about their Employment Standards complaint before the claim is assigned to an officer;
• authorize employment standards officers to attempt settlements of complaints; and
• allow officers to make decisions on claims when parties fail to attend decision-making meetings or provide evidence on time.

According to the government Backgrounder, these amendments are proposed in support of the Ministry of Labour's initiative to "advance fairness in the workplace and modernize its Employment Standards program", which include:

• launching a task force in August 2010 to eliminate the backlog of 14,000 claims in two years;
• the new online severance pay decision tool for employers and employees; and
• the future launch of a termination of employment/temporary layoff tool that determines when a layoff becomes a termination, the termination date and any termination pay owing.