Ontario’s legislature passed a bill yesterday that included the minimum wage increase as part of an overhaul of labour laws. The minimum wage will be raised in two steps: from $11.40 to $14 in January 2018 and then to $15 in January 2019. Alberta also plants to raise its wage to $15 in October 2018. That would give Ontario the highest wage in the country for most of 2018.
The reforms also include changes to paid vacations, emergency and sick leave, and equal pay for part-time or casual workers doing the same job as full-time employees.
The personal days policy sounds great if applicable to employers of all sizes, not just the workplaces of 20 or more employees (like previous changes to employment law). Life happens (moves, sickness, fires, etc.) and time off might be vital.
The personal days is probably better then the minimum wage increase. Every employee whom works for an employer of 20 or more is entitled to maximum (2) Paid sick days off a year, not much but better then what it has been. Although, remember an election is around the corner it may never survive as with the minimum wage going to $15.00.
Speaking of election; in my opinion all three party leaders are weak, should be interesting we may only see a minority; rather then a majority.
I think this is a huge mistake, and is too much too fast. And this will be an impossible hurdle for many small businesses that are already dealing with hydro costs and remaining competitive with the US and international markets, where minimum wage is considerably lower. I would also hypothesize that since employees will cost more, companies like Walmart will make even a bigger push to replace people with machines (like the self checkouts) in order to keep prices down. Thus, increased inflation and increased unemployment–a vicious circle
Metro actually just announced it will be reducing hours due to the minimum wage increase.
All Metros will no longer be 24-hrs; thus reducing costs, besides that the only other option is what Loblaws is doing, closing stores that have weak sales.
The end result to all of this is simple, a Grocery Chain will collapse or a merging of two companies. I’ve always thought of Sobeys and Metro merging.