Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Introduced earlier this year, Bill 148, known as the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act is the result of years of government consultations on the changing nature of the modern workplace.
While Bill 148 includes many positive improvements—including some of AMAPCEO’s recommendations—there are a number of areas that are still of concern.
Last week, President Dave Bulmer wrote to the review committee with our recommendations on how to improve Bill 148 for professional public sector employees and workers across the province.
- Fairness for Crown employees: Bill 148 finally extends basic work standards and protections to Crown employees, but maintains a loophole for public employees who may have more than one entity as an employer. These arrangements are relatively common in the public sector, particularly for arms-length Crown agencies or certain kinds of public-private partnerships. AMAPCEO recommends Bill 148 close this unnecessary loophole to extend basic protection for all Crown employees.
- End professional exclusions: Certain types of workers, including domestic workers, agricultural and horticultural workers, and those working in certain regulated professions, are exempt from protections under the Ontario Labour Relations Act. Bill 148 does not address these unfair and outdated exclusions, which AMAPCEO recommends be repealed immediately.
- Allow collective bargaining for managerial employees: The Ontario Labour Relations Act prohibits employees who work in a managerial or labour relations capacity from belonging to a union. Such an exemption is rooted in antiquated preconceptions of unionism and takes away employees’ rights to freedom of association. AMAPCEO recommends this section of the Act be deleted and amendments be added on how managerial staff may seek to be represented by a bargaining agent.