Employment Law Changes For Restaurants: Employment Lawyer’s Analysis on CTV

Interview Summary

The Ontario provincial government has announced proposed changes to the Employment Standards Act. These changes would prevent employers from deducting wages in restaurant environments, prevent unpaid trial shifts, and more. What will these changes mean for employees on a day-to-day basis? What can employers do to ensure they are foll

Teilen Celentano, an Ontario employment lawyer and Associate at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP joined CTV Morning Live to answer these questions and more on employee rights.

Interview Notes

• Disclosing salary ranges: It will be difficult to enforce salary disclosure in job advertisements as there is a caveat to this legislation. Any salary over $100,000 does not have to be disclosed in job postings. Bonus calculations go into this amount as well as overtime pay.
• Using artificial intelligence in the hiring process:  At this stage it is too early to tell and difficult to determine how artificial intelligence will be used in the hiring process. It is already common knowledge that certain keywords in resumes are looked for by employers.
• Tips distributed to management: New legislation would ensure there is less ambiguity in how tips are distributed among employees in a restaurant or hospitality work environment and better protect employee compensation.
• Deducting wages from employees: While it was always illegal for employers to deduct employee wages in restaurant settings, despite incidents of customers refusing to pay, this legislation further solidifies employee rights and entitlements.