Bill 88, the Working for Workers Act, 2022,[1] is now in force. Bill 88 passed third reading in the Ontario Legislature on April 7, 2022, and received Royal Assent on Monday April 11, 2022.[2]

Overview

Bill 88 makes a number of changes that will impact employers and employees alike. Most notably, it:

• enacts the standalone Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act, 2022;
• removes certain business consultants and information technology consultants from the scope of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”);
• creates a new requirement under the ESA for employers with 25 or more employees to have a written policy about electronic monitoring;
• expands reservist leave under the ESA by providing that an employee is entitled to leave if the employee is participating in Canadian Armed Forces military skills training, and reducing the qualifying period for reservist leave from 6 to 3 months’ continuous employment;
• amends the Occupational Health and Safety Act by extending the limitation period for prosecutions from 1 to 2 years, increasing maximum fines for convictions, and requiring employers to provide a naloxone kit in workplaces where opioid overdoses are a potential hazard; and
• reduces delays for certain individuals who apply for registration with certain regulated professions in Ontario.

These changes are reviewed further below. Note that many of the changes do not come into force immediately.

Bill 88 was also intended to deregulate the practice of traditional Chinese medicine and...

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