By Eleanor Binder Employment Standards. What is a union? A union is an organization of workers who join together in order to have a voice in improving.

By Eleanor BinderBy Eleanor Binder

Employment StandardsEmployment Standards

What is a union?What is a union? A union is an organization of

workers who join together in order to have a voice in improving their job quality and to bargain with the employer for better working conditions.

Unions help to protect workers from unfair, arbitrary or even malicious behavior by management and employers.

How is a union formed ?How is a union formed ?• Employees are asked

to sign a union card. • Upon obtaining the

signatures of a solid majority of the employees in the company, a bargaining unit is formed.

• The cards are then submitted to The Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB)

• The OLRB is a government agency that oversees union/management relations.

Labour RelationsRelations Board

The Board is an adjudicative agency of the Government of Ontario and its' staff is appointed under the Public Service Act. The bargaining unit is finalized either by the OLRB or by collective agreement between the company and union.

The Collective AgreementThe Collective Agreement• Management and a

bargaining committee negotiate a collective agreement, with the help of lawyers.

• When the collective agreement is finalized, a radification date is set and majority vote wins.

• Tensions mount high at this critical time as both the company and union supporters aggressively engage in a war of the workers.

Who is informed of anWho is informed of anemployee's union status ?employee's union status ?

•When the work place has a voluntary union, only the union and the OLRB, know the names of union members. This information is not revealed to the employer.

•Union stewards must be union members and so reveal themselves as members.

•Some work places have mandatory unions, as a condition of employment, so you must join the union.

What is a Collective AgreementWhat is a Collective Agreementand how is it negotiated ?and how is it negotiated ?

• The agreementcontains at the very least, all statutes laid out by the Employment Standards Act.

• It also must guarantee that there will be no strikes or lock-outs as long as the agreement is effect.

A collective agreement is a document which lays out the employment standards for a unionized workplace.

The Collective AgreementThe Collective Agreement• The timespan of the agreement is

negotiated between the union's bargaining unit appointees and management's representatives.

• Other provisions which maybe negotiated into thecollective agreement are:

•Overtime procedures.

•Safety issues.

•Promotion procedures.

•Wage increases.

•Religious holidays.

•Anything that workers are willing to negotiate with employers.

How is the CollectiveHow is the CollectiveAgreement Implemented ?Agreement Implemented ?

When an employee does not follow the rules of the Collective Agreement, management is given recourse in the form of a procedure called a grievance. The grievance is a formal written report detailing the rules which have been broken and the consequences management will

apply to the employee. The grievance is handled by

the union's shop steward and is brought to the attention of a mediator-arbitrator for the purpose of resolving the grievance in an expeditious and informal manner.

How are Union Services paid How are Union Services paid for ?for ?

The employer is required to deduct union dues from the wages of each employee in the unit affected by the collective agreement, whether or not the employee is a member of the union,and to remit the amount to the trade union. Stewards may or may not be paid for time spent on union business, depending on the employer.

What is the Employment What is the Employment Standards Act ?Standards Act ?

Employment standards are enforced under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) which sets out the minimum standards that employers and employees must follow. The ESA is a law that sets minimum standards for workplaces in Ontario.

•Overtime•Minimum Wage•Vacation

•Public Holidays

•Pregnancy andParental Leave

•Personal Emergency Leave

•Termination of Employment

•Hours of Work

•Family Medical Leave

Who is protected by the Who is protected by the ESA ?ESA ?

If you are employed in Ontario, you are probably protected by the ESA. It does not cover federal employees and a few individuals in other special categories. There are exceptions and special rules for some workers under the law.

Hours of WorkHours of Work

Generally, employees cannot be required or permitted to work more than:

• 8 hours a day or the number of hours in an established work day if it is more than 8.

• 48 hours a week.• An employee can agree in writing to work more

than these limits. Such agreements are valid only if the employer gives the employee (where there is no trade union) an information sheet prepared by the ministry about hours of work and overtime before the agreement is made, and the agreement states that the employee received the information sheet.

OvertimeOvertime

Most employees must be paid overtime pay after 44 hours of work each week. The overtime rate must be at least 1½ times the regular rate of pay.

Minimum Wage and Pay Minimum Wage and Pay DayDay

February 1, 2007

March 31, 2008

March 31, 2009

March 31, 2010

General Minimum Wage

$8.00per hour

$8.75per hour

$9.50per hour

$10.25per hour

Student Minimum Wage

$7.50per hour

$8.20per hour

$8.90per hour

$9.60per hour

•This is the lowest hourly rate an employer can pay an employee.

•Employees must be paid on a regular, recurring payday and given a statement showing their wages and deductions for that pay period.

Vacation Time and PayVacation Time and Pay

• Most employees earn at least 2 weeks of vacation time after every 12 months of employment.

• Employees are entitled to be paid at least 4% of their total wages earned as vacation pay.

Public HolidaysPublic Holidays• A public holiday is a

day off work, with public holiday pay.

• Ontario has nine public holidays every year.

• Most employees are allowed to take public holidays off regardless of how long they have been working and whether they are full-time, part-time, permanent, a student, or on a limited-term contract..

Canadian Civic HolidaysCanadian Civic Holidays• New Year's Day - January 1 • Good Friday - varies in March or April • Easter Monday - varies in March or April • Victoria Day - Monday preceding May 25• Canada Day - July 1• Labour Day - first Monday of September• Thanksgiving Day - second Monday of

October • Remembrance Day - November 11 • Christmas Day - Decemeber 25 • Boxing Day - Dececember 26

Pregnancy Leave and Parental Pregnancy Leave and Parental LeaveLeave

• Eligible employees are entitled to take 17 weeks of pregnancy leave and 35 weeks of parental leave (if they have taken pregnancy leave).

• All other eligible parents, including pregnant employees who do not take pregnancy leave, can take up to 37 weeks of parental leave.

• These are unpaid, job-protected leaves.

Personal Emergency Personal Emergency LeaveLeave

• If an employer regularly employs at least 50 people, its workers are allowed to take up to 10 days a year of unpaid, job-protected personal emergency leave.

• This leave is for personal illness, injury, or medical emergency, or for the death, illness, injury, medical emergency or urgent matter of certain family members.

Family Medical LeaveFamily Medical Leave

• Who have a serious illness with a significant risk of dying within a period of 26 weeks.

• It is unpaid, job-protected leave of up to 8 weeks in a 26-week period.

Employees can take family medical leave to provide care or support to:• Certain family members• People who consider the employee to be like a family member and

Termination Notice and Termination Notice and PayPay An employer MUST give an

employee advance written notice, termination pay

instead of notice, or a combination of both, if the

employee has been working continuously for 3 months or

more and his or her job is terminated. The amount of

notice or pay dependson how long the

employee has been working for the employer and the

number of employees being terminated in a 4-week

period.

Probationary PeriodProbationary Period

• The employer has the right The employer has the right to place a new employee to place a new employee on a continuous 3 month on a continuous 3 month probationary period.probationary period.

• The employee’s The employee’s performance will be performance will be monitorred.monitorred.

• If performance is not If performance is not adequate, the employee adequate, the employee can be dismissed with ncan be dismissed with noofault to the employer.fault to the employer.

Probationary TipsProbationary Tips

Be on time. Be on time. Be Be

punctual. punctual. Do not be Do not be

late !late !

Do not takeDo not takeextra long extra long breaks or breaks or

lunches and lunches and take them on take them on

time !time !

Treat Treat everyone everyone

politely and politely and study your study your

training training manual !manual !

Performance Evaluation• Employers should establish, maintain

and endorse a standardized set of relevant benchmarks that can be applied to all employees.

• The evaluation should be a fair and balanced assessment of an employee's performance and should address:

•accomplishments•service and relationships•dependability•adaptability and flexibility•decision making or problem solving.

• It should list goals and objectives for the employee to meet during the coming year and include time frames for when goals are to be met.

• Employees should understand and sign off on any evaluation protocols, formal warnings and suspensions.

Employees cannot be punishedEmployees cannot be punishedfor claiming their rightsfor claiming their rights

Employers cannot intimidate, fire, suspend, or otherwise punish an employee, or threaten any of these actions because the employee asks for or asks about their ESA rights. If this happens, contact the Ministry of Labour.

The Ministry of Labour can The Ministry of Labour can helphelp

If an employee thinks that an employer is not following the ESA, he or she can contact the Ministry of Labour for help. Employment Standards Officers can inspect workplaces and look into possible violations of the ESA.

CompensationCompensation Employers can

be ordered to:• Pay the wages that

are owing to employees.

• Give an employee back their job.

• Follow the rules of the ESA.

• Compensate an employee.

Employer OffencesEmployer Offences

• The Ministry of Labour can also charge an employer with an offence, including a ticket.

• If convicted, employers may be fined or sent to jail.

In SummaryIn Summary We all

should enjoy our

work and be sure to…

Credits

Unionized employees should speak to their union representative before contacting the Ministry of Labour if they believe that their rights have been violated.

Information for this presentation provided by the Ontario Ministry of Labour Web site at:

http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/brochures/br_rights.html