Working for Workers Six receives Royal Assent
Bill 229, Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 is now law. The bill, which was introduced on November 27, 2024, received Royal Assent yesterday, December 19, 2024.
Bill 229 built on the government’s five prior Working for Workers acts by introducing further amendments to several workplace and employment-related statutes, including the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”) and the Occupational Health and Safety Act (the “OHSA”). We summarized the key legislative changes proposed by Bill 229 in a previous article here.
Among other changes, Bill 229 introduces new:
- parental leave for employees who become parents through adoption or surrogacy.
- long-term illness leave.
- mandatory minimum fines for certain convictions under the OHSA
- personal protective equipment fit requirements.
- enhanced powers for the Chief Prevention Officer.
- powers for the Minister to make orders in respect of worker trades committees.
Most of the proposed amendments came into force on December 19, 2024 along with Royal Assent. All of the OHSA-related amendments came into force with Royal Assent, except for those related to worker trades committees, which will come into force on January 1, 2025.
For further detail, please see our previous summary of the key legislative changes, here.
Should you have any questions regarding the impact of the proposed changes on your workplace, please contact a member of our Labour & Employment team.