The Ontario Ministry of Labour recently released version 6.0 of the Employment Standards Poster, which outlines employees' minimum rights and employers' minimum obligations. With the release of this new poster, almost every employer in Ontario is required by law to immediately post a hardcopy of version 6.0 in English in a conspicuous place in the workplace such as a communal kitchen.
If the majority language of an employer's workplace is not English and the Ministry has published a version of the poster in that majority language, an employer is also required to post a hardcopy of the applicable translation next to the English version. The poster is currently available in the following translations: French, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai and Urdu.
There are other poster-related requirements Ontario employers must satisfy this summer due to legislative changes coming into force on May 20, 2015. More specifically, Ontario employers are required to provide a hardcopy or electronic copy of the poster to all current employees by June 19, 2015. Ontario employers also need to ensure new employees hired after May 20, 2015, receive a copy of the poster within the first 30 days of hire. One strategy to ensure compliance with this last requirement would be to include the poster as part of any hiring package.
A copy of version 6.0 of the Employment Standards Poster is available, free of charge, on the Ontario Ministry of Labour's website.
Bennett Jones