The provincial government of Ontario has introduced additional legislation to protect the rights of workers in the province. The Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act (the “Act”) proposes to establish minimum standards for gig workers, including minimum wage and regular paydays. The Act will apply to ride hailing and delivery drivers as well as others who receive offers for work through digital platforms. This Act is separate and distinct from the Ontario Employment Standards Act and the Working for Workers Act that came recently came into law. These series of Acts are part of worker friendly legislation aimed to protect some of the most vulnerable workers in the community. The Act was introduced in bill form on Monday and has not yet been passed into law.
In addition to minimum wage and pay periods, the proposed rights within the bill include the guarantee that workers will get written information detailing how platforms’ algorithms work, how pay is calculated, how operators’ performance rating systems work and how operators collect tips. It will also bar operators from withholding tips and prohibiting reprisal against workers from exercising their rights under the Act. The proposed legislation would also require operators to give workers notice of and rationale for their removal from a platform if they are removed for more than 24 hours, and it would see digital platform work disputes resolved in Ontario (which comes on the back of the famous Uber v. Heller[1] lawsuit where an Uber driver contested Uber’s arbitration process that is required to go through the Netherlands). One thing the Act doesn’t do is provide gig workers with an employee classification and so therefore does not move them into the scope of the Ontario Employment Standards Act.
There have been mixed reviews of the Act with other various politicians criticizing the application of the Act. For example, the proposed legislation will not provide minimum wage to apply during the time between assignments like rides and deliveries. Regardless, in an interview before the announcement of the proposed Act, Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said the legislation will establish foundational rights for gig workers in a Canadian first, though he expects other provinces will follow Ontario’s lead.
There will no doubt be more information available in the coming weeks and we will provide an update at that time.