Re: Time Sensitive: Live coverage of Wynne's Minimum Wage Announcement
Summation:
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has announced a plan to increase the provincial minimum wage to $15 an hour by Jan. 1, 2019.
The increase would be phased in over the next 18 months, rising to $14 an hour on Jan. 1, 2018, and then to $15 the following January.
After that, it will rise annually with inflation.
"People are working longer, jobs are less secure, benefits are harder to come by and protections are fewer and fewer," said Wynne. "In a time of change like this, when the very nature of work is being transformed, we need to make certain that our workers are treated fairly."
Wynne also announced several other proposed changes to workforce rules:
- Equal pay would be mandated for part-time workers doing the same job as a full-time workers.
- After five years with the same employer, the minimum vacation entitlement for workers would rise to three weeks per year.
- Employers would be required to pay a worker three hours of wages if the employer cancels a shift with less than 48 hours notice.
- All workers would be given 10 personal emergency leave days a year, and a minimum of two of those days must be paid. (Currently only employees of large companies are entitled to this.)
Currently, Ontario's minimum wage is $11.40 an hour.
In other provinces, the current minimum ranges from $10.72 in Saskatchewan to $13 in Nunavut. Alberta became the first province to pass a $15 hourly wage, in September 2016, but it doesn't go into effect until October 2018.
In an interview with CBC Toronto on Monday, Wynne said the provincial economy is doing well enough to handle a significant wage boost.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announces $15 minimum wage - Toronto - CBC News