Ontario's hospitality industry faces unique employment law challenges. Restaurants often operate with high workforce turnover, dynamic scheduling requirements, and narrow operating margins. At the same time, employment law obligations continue to evolve and become increasingly complex.
As restaurant businesses grow, many operators find themselves navigating issues relating to wages, gratuities, scheduling, onboarding, workplace policies, and compliance obligations that may not have been priorities when the business first opened its doors.
This article is the first in a series examining employment law issues unique to Ontario's hospitality industry. It focuses on several recent developments and compliance considerations that restaurant operators should have on their radar in 2026.
1. The Server Wage Is Gone - But Outdated Assumptions Remain
Many restaurant operators still remember when Ontario maintained a separate minimum wage for liquor servers.
Ontario eliminated the separate liquor server minimum wage on January 1, 2022. Since then, servers, bartenders, hosts, cooks, dishwashers, and most other...
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