Working for Workers Six Act in Ontario brings more 'game-changing measures'
Exclusive to Canadian HR Reporter from Rudner Law.
The world of employment law has evolved significantly since 2020. And the changes keep coming, with the Ontario government keeping employers on their toes.
Most recently, the government provided Royal Assent to Bill 229, the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 – less than a month after the bill was originally introduced.
The government announced the amendments as being “game-changing measures” that will improve the safety and wellbeing of workers and families, lower costs for workers and businesses, and grow Ontario’s skilled trades workforce.
Some of the noteworthy changes that came into effect as of December 19, 2024 are as follows:
- Employees who become parents through adoption or surrogacy will be entitled to a new unpaid 16-week job-protected parental leave, in order “to ensure they have adequate time to meet the demands of the adoption or surrogacy process, attach and welcome their child into their new home.” This will come into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor. In order to be eligible for this leave, the employee must have been employed by the employer for at least 13 weeks. This new leave aligns with changes on the federal level to create employment insurance (EI) benefits for adoption.
- Employers are now required to ensure employees have properly fitting personal protective equipment (PPE) in all sectors. The government’s objective to bring more women into the trades and grow Ontario’s trades workforce led to the expansion of the explicit requirement for properly fitting PPE for women in the construction sector, which was included in the Working for Workers Act, 2023.
- The minimum fine that may be imposed on corporations convicted of repeated offences that result in the death or serious injury of one or more workers in a two-year period is now $500,000.
New job-protected leave in Ontario
In June 2025, a new 27-week job-protected leave for workers with serious illnesses will also come into force. This would be one of the longest provincial leaves in Canada to ensure workers with a serious medical condition have the time to receive treatment and recover before returning to work and without risking their job security.
While employers already have a duty to accommodate employees up to the point of undue hardship based on legitimate needs protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code, such as disability, the codification of the Long-Term Illness Leave in the Employment Standards Act, 2000 further signals to corporations the importance the government is placing on the safety and wellbeing of workers.
As these changes (along with several other amendments) have come into effect, and more are on the horizon, employers should stay up to date in order to ensure that they are complying with the law. A good starting point would be to review any existing workplace policies, including those relating to leaves of absence, and revising them as appropriate in the event they do not comply with the new amendments.
The recommended best practice would be to review all of their core HR documents holistically, including contracts, workplace policies, and procedures, as these documents should be consistent with each other and legally compliant.
Employers would also be well-advised to strive towards a better understanding of the employment law landscape, as it continues to evolve; otherwise, they may end up being exposed to substantial liability.
Nadia Zaman is a senior associate lawyer at Rudner Law in Toronto. She can be reached at (416) 864-8500 or [email protected].
