Ontario's most vulnerable workers getting "bum's rush" with Bill 139 deadline

Hasty deadline to vote endangers hundreds of thousands of Ontario workers and small businesses

TORONTO- Portions of the Employment Standards Act, Bill 139, threaten to severely harm many of Ontario's most vulnerable workers in the staffing services sector.

An overly-zealous faction within the Ontario Government, led by Liberal MPP Vic Dhillon, is insisting on a hasty rubber stamping of the bill without any heed to the information received in the public hearings. After hearing more than 50 presentations over the last week, ministry insiders have indicated to the Association of Canadian Search, Employment & Staffing Services (ACSESS), an association that represents more than 1000 staffing firm offices nationwide, that there are not yet any amendments in the works for governments self imposed deadline of Monday April 6th.

"This arbitrary deadline is a show of irresponsible government and does not allow for a reasonable period of review or a thoughtful and measured review of the social and economic ramifications of legislation that will effect hundreds of thousands of Ontarians - mostly new Canadians," said Steve Jones, President of the ACSESS. "Without time to address the two minor revisions to the wording of the Bill, its passage will have a devastating effect on people - especially those for whom English is not a first language - and who will have no staffing services support to rely on to compete for temporary work in this severe economic downturn." ACSESS estimates that without the assistance of a temporary staffing service, individuals seeking work will have to reach out personally to more than 300 separate companies to find one job.

In addition to the negative impact to Ontario workers, Bill 139 as it currently exists will also be debilitating for the small businesses in the industry.

Jones is also President and CEO of The People Bank, a privately held staffing service in the province. His company, which has been operating in Ontario for 26 years, is ISO certified, and has been listed by Deloitte & Touche for nine years as one of Canada's Best Managed Companies, has already laid-off over 20% of his recruitment workforce due to the reduced hiring within Ontario. He predicts that under Bill 139, many companies will have no choice but to close permanently, effectively undermining Ontario's ability to compete and win in a post recession economy.

ACSESS is still hopeful that Government will respect the needs of workers and allow the appropriate amount of time to make the two important amendments and reverse this potentially devastating course of action before Monday.

ACSESS believes the voice of a much larger group of MPPs and ministry staff, who understand and support the changes required to protect workers and help industry connect them with secure jobs, is having a hard time being heard amid the rhetoric of Dhillon and anti-business advocacy groups.

ACSESS has worked closely with the Ontario government and been instrumental to many of the provisions within the bill designed to protect workers. The industry and business groups strongly support the bill's overarching objectives with the two revisions.

In this week's hearings, examples of individual stories, told by employers in the private sector showed how the employment and staffing industry connects hundreds of thousands of Ontario workers with full-time employment.

Supporting this view was a presentation given by Kelly Harbridge, Senior Labour Council of Magna International. Harbridge told the committee that in 2001, their Etobicoke-based plant transitioned all 500 employees from temporary workers to full-time regular employees.

"The new rule forcing staffing firms to a more onerous and expensive standard for termination pay is greater than any other employer in Ontario. As well, the government's interference in an agency's ability to charge fees to companies for the services provided, will cripple the industry and in the end do great harm to the employees it is meant to protect," said Jones.

ACSESS says it is the single voice for promoting best industry practices for the recruitment, employment and staffing services industry in Canada and supports advancement of the staffing industry through professional training and certification programs, leading to a Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC) designation. It monitors trends and provides input to federal and provincial governments on employment legislation and regulations. ACSESS members are committed to helping businesses respond to the changing marketplace and to offering a broad range of employment opportunities and services to their clients.