Ontario Working for Workers Seven Act, 2025 proposes further changes to workplace laws

On May 28, Ontario introduced its latest round of workplace amendments – Bill 30, Working for Workers Seven Act, 2025. This legal update summarizes some of these proposed amendments.

Bill 30’s proposed amendments affect the following statutes:

• Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA)
• Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA)
• Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (WSIA)
• City of Toronto Act, 2006
• Municipal Act, 2001
• Ontario Immigration Act, 2015
• Planning Act

This update focuses on those amendments that will affect Ontario employers most broadly – those under the ESA, OHSA, and WSIA. 

The following changes come into effect upon royal assent unless otherwise indicated.

Employment Standards Act, 2000

• Reporting fraudulent job postings. An operator of a “job posting platform” will be required to:

• have a procedure in place for users of the platform to report fraudulent publicly advertised job postings; and
• adopt a written policy that includes information about how the operator will address fraudulent publicly advertised job postings. 

This requirement will not apply to job posting platforms operated by an employer that only advertise job postings for that employer. These new job posting rules will come into force on the later of: (1) royal assent; and (2) the proclamation of job posting rules under previous Workers for Workers legislation. For more information on these previous job posting rules, see our update Ontario updates rules on job postings and more.

• Job-seeking leave. Employees will be entitled to three days of unpaid leave if they receive group notice of termination (which is required when 50 or more employees are terminated in the same four-week period).  This leave is for employees to engage in job searching, interviewing and training. 

• Temporary layoffs. Bill 30 will make significant changes to the ESA’s “temporary layoff” scheme. Under the ESA, if an employee layoff extends beyond the statutory definition of “temporary layoff,” employment is deemed terminated, triggering the employee’s right to statutory notice of termination or termination pay in lieu, and to statutory severance pay (if applicable).

Under most circumstances, the maximum “temporary layoff” under the ESA is 13 weeks in any period of 20 consecutive weeks. Under certain enumerated circumstances, the maximum may be extended up to 30 weeks in any period of 52 consecutive weeks. 

Under the proposed amendments, the ESA would allow for layoffs of 35 or more weeks in any period of 52 consecutive weeks, so long as the layoff is less than 52 weeks in any period of 78 consecutive weeks, and:

• the employer and employee enter into an agreement for such an extended layoff;
• the employer recalls the employee within the time set out in the agreement; and
• the employer receives an approval for the extended layoff from the Director of Employment Standards.

Occupational Health and Safety Act

• Equivalency of accreditation: Health and safety management systems accredited under the OHSA will be treated as equivalents for certain purposes.
• Reimbursement of defibrillator costs. The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) will reimburse an employer for the cost of the defibrillator if the WSIA requires the employer to equip the workplace with a defibrillator. This proposed amendment comes into force on a day to be ordered by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
• Administrative penalties: Bill 30 will implement a new administrative penalty scheme. 

If this change is adopted, provincial inspectors will be empowered to issue administrative penalties against a person who has contravened or failed to comply with a provision of OHSA, an order of an inspector or a director or an order of the Minister of Labour. The amount of the administrative penalty will be determined by future regulations.

A person who is issued a notice of administrative penalty will be able to request a review of the notice. 

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997

• Prohibition of false/misleading representations. Employers will be expressly prohibited from making false or misleading statements or representations to the WSIB regarding any person’s claim for benefits. Bill 30 also implements new administrative penalties for this conduct. 
• Penalties. Bill 30 will create a new maximum fine of $750,000 for each conviction applicable to persons convicted of two or more counts of the same offence in the same legal proceeding. A failure to pay premiums under the WSIA will be treated as an offence and may be subject to administrative penalties. 
• Aggravating factors: Bill 30 sets out new aggravating factors for the purposes of determining a penalty under the WISA as follows:

• Previous convictions of an offence under the WSIA.
• Record of prior non-compliance under the WSIA.
• Two or more convictions for the same offence in the legal proceeding pertaining to the penalty.

Takeaways

Bill 30 reflects Ontario’s ongoing initiatives to amend workplace laws. We summarized the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 in our recent update. 

The proposed administrative monetary penalty scheme under the OHSA is of particular interest. Under the current OHSA, employers are exposed to penalties only after a charge for breach of the legislation and subsequent conviction. In contrast, Bill 30’s proposed scheme may create more immediate liability – provincial inspectors would be empowered to issue administrative penalties upon a finding of non-compliance, without requiring charge and conviction. If this scheme is adopted, it remains to be seen how it will be implemented. 

We will monitor Bill 30 as it proceeds through the legislature and provide further updates.

The author would like to thank Stephen Lunn, articling student, for his contribution to preparing this legal update.