The countdown is on.

Over the weekend the Toronto Star and the CBC each published stories detailing what Ontarians can expect to see in the long awaited final report from the Changing Workplaces Review when it is released later this month. Citing unnamed government sources, the media outlets report that the Changing Workplaces Review has proposed a number of changes to Ontario’s labour and employment legislation including:

• making it easier for cleaning staff and home-care workers to unionize;
• requiring that employers provide employees with paid sick days;
• increasing the minimum amount of vacation from 2 weeks to 3 weeks;
• providing certain protections to independent contractors;
• eliminating some of the exemptions to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 so that more workers are entitled to overtime and certain leaves of absence.

In addition, there is speculation that the Government may increase the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour.

We will continue to follow this story and will provide a comprehensive review once the final report is released.

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