Employment Standards in Ontario: Recent Changes and the Ongoing Debate over Whether Ontario is Moving Forward Essay by Top Papers

The following paper will look at legislation which reshaped Ontario Employment Standards in the last decade and whether or not this legislation has really aided Ontario workers. Specifically, the paper will look at the 2000 Employment Standards Act initially passed by the former conservative government. In doing so, this paper will look at the key changes in employment labour standards brought into being by the act, the impact of the legislation upon Ontario workers, and the role minimum employment labour standards (such as the above-mentioned 2000 act) are supposed to play in the labour market - and whether or not the recent Ontario legislation has satisfied this role as it is widely understood. In the end, the results appear mixed: the new standards have given employees the flexibility many want - but that flexibility is offset at least in part by conditions that could compel workers to labour harder than ever for relatively less pay than ever.