The Notorious Bill 139!!

Ontario’s Bill 139


Bill 139 was included as part of section 74 of Ontario’s Employment Standard Act!

Bill 139 has become rather notorious in our industry!!

Basically, this was a bill proposed and implemented by the Ontario LIBERAL Government that they feel will protect the temporary or assignment worker!!

The workers will now receive public holiday pay and the basic rules and regulations of the ESA (Employment Standards Act) will apply to them regarding termination and severance.

It’s a ludicrous bill and all it’s going to do is reduce employment opportunities for the workers it was designed to protect!! Many clients won’t understand the bill and therefore might stay away from employing temporary or assignment workers because of this and are mistakenly frightened by it!! They needn’t be!!!

The implementation of this onerous bill falls on the shoulders of the personnel company although both sides are impacted somewhat!! The client only “slightly” based on more diligent communication with the agency and the agency “significantly’ based on the worker management!!
Basically, Bill 139 has only modestly changed the relationship between client and personnel agency.

• It ultimately means that for longer term employees who are on assignments of greater than 3 months or more at a client site, more communication will have to occur between client and agency!! The termination factor will have to be considered!! There are normal severance issues that now have to be considered for these workers! For those assignments of less than 3 months, it’s an agency issue as they must properly manage their worker!

• The issue of fees to client or worker are basically bogus issues!! TPI has never charged a worker for us finding them a job or providing any kind of service to the worker. TPI has always had a “temp to perm” program whereby the worker can be taken on by the client after 3 months at no charge! We have never stood in the way of a worker gaining employment at any one of our clients! Having built a strong reputation in the staffing industry since our opening in 1985, we have consistently aimed at treating our all temporary workers and clients with the highest level fairness and respect!!

• Public holiday pay was definitely an issue as temporary workers are now entitled and this is based on specific rules within this legislation. By now, most clients are familiar with this concept as it has been in effect since January 2, 2009 and are either paying for this or have it built into their charge rate.

Bill 139 was absolutely unnecessary and the problem is that temporary workers might have more rights under Bill 139 than a normal worker.

In the end, it’s really business as usual. Ultimately, there will be closer communication between client and agency but this might be a good thing as it will lead to more planning!! Short term assignments are not affected!! The role of providing temporary workers shouldn’t change!! Longer assignments will require suitable notice prior to ending and the client will only have to worry about any financial repercussions if this notice doesn’t occur!! Otherwise leave all the unnecessary administration to the personnel company for the normal assignments. TPI takes care of all the additional administration, enabling our customers to focus on the key aspects of their business. By updating our systems, we can properly handle the various components of the legislation.

The increased regulation governing temporary employment agencies is a clear indication that the temporary help industry is a vital and significant industry in Ontario’s marketplace!!