Freshii job outsourcing and employer obligations

Select Freshii cash registers across Ontario have recently implemented virtual cashiers. Unlike other cashiers in the province, these virtual helpers are working from a call centre in Nicaragua. Many people have raised concerns about the outsourcing of labour and its legality.

Jon Pinkus, a Toronto employment lawyer and Partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP commented on the issue of labour outsourcing and employee rights to the Toronto Star.

“It’s just like any other kind of outsourcing: if you’re sending jobs to people in a different country, you’re only obligated to comply with the labour standards of that country,” Pinkus explains. “Being virtually present in Ontario doesn’t change that.”

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Pinkus also states that while many don’t like the practice, like other employment lawyers, he reiterates the practice is legal.