The Ontario government is amending the Employment Standards Act, so businesses do not have to permanently layoff employees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Right now, the act stipulates businesses have to terminate the employment of workers who are laid off for more than 13 weeks. For thousands of workers across Ontario, that deadline is coming up fast.
For some businesses, the extension could mean the difference between survival and bankruptcy. When those workers lose their jobs, companies could be forced to pay costly payouts.
For example, a restaurant with 30 staff members could be on the hook to pay $100,000 in termination payouts.
The change means non-unionized workers who have had their hours reduced or eliminated because of the pandemic will go on Infectious Disease Emergency Leave. That way, they stay employed and can still qualify for federal emergency income support programs, and the employers will not have to pay termination costs.
According to Statistics Canada, 379,000 workers in the province were temporarily laid off in April, an increase of 2,496 per cent over April 2019.
The Financial Accountability Office estimates pandemic-related shutdowns directly impacted 2.2 million Ontario workers. Half were temporarily laid off or had their hours reduced, and the rest lost their jobs.
The changes are retroactive to March 1 and will expire six weeks after the province ends its state of emergency.
The regulatory amendments do not apply to unionized workers.