NOTE: The following information was compiled and posted by Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) on December 6, 2023, and is being re-posted with permission. Sign up for CLEO’s mailing list here!
As 2024 approaches, it’s time to look ahead at some upcoming changes that will affect workers in Ontario.
New EI Rates for 2024
The maximum amount workers can get from Employment Insurance (EI) goes up on January 1, 2024.
| Type of EI benefit | 2024 Maximum Amount | 2023 Maximum Amount |
| Regular, sickness, caregiving, maternity, and standard parental benefits | $688 a week | $650 a week |
| Extended parental benefits | $401 a week | $390 a week |
If the chart above is not functioning, the information in the chart is as follows: The maximum benefit amount for regular, sickness, caregiving, maternity, and standard parental benefits in 2024 has gone up to $668 a week from $650 a week (an increase of $18 per week). The maximum benefit amount in 2024 for extended parental benefits has gone up to $401 a week from $390 a week (an increase of $11 per week).
People can apply for EI online or at a Service Canada office. It usually takes more than 4 weeks for Service Canada to review an application and start paying benefits.
New rules for job postings
The Ontario government recently announced that they’re creating new rules for job postings. It looks like these rules will be in place by late 2023 or sometime in 2024.
These proposed rules are still at the draft or bill stage so the new law could end up being different.
As the bill is currently worded, job postings will need to say:
- how much the position pays, or what the pay range is for the position
- whether an employer uses artificial intelligence (AI) to screen, assess, or select applicants
As well, job postings and application forms will not be allowed to say that Canadian experience is required. And employers will not be able to get around the law by saying something that actually means Canadian experience. For example, they cannot say that workers need a degree from a Canadian university.
The current plan is for these rules to apply to job postings that are “publicly advertised”. The government has not yet defined this phrase. But it seems to mean that these rules will not apply to jobs that are only posted internally.
The government has also left space in the proposed law for exceptions to these rules. They’ve not yet said what the exceptions will be.
Clarifying some existing rules
The Ontario government recently announced that they would make unpaid trial shifts in the restaurant industry illegal.
They would also make it illegal for restaurant, gas station, and other employers to deduct wages from a worker if a customer leaves without paying.
The Employment Standards Act (ESA) already makes these practices illegal. What the government is proposing is to clarify that they’re illegal, focussing on the restaurant industry.
Trial shifts
In most cases, employers of any job that’s covered by the ESA cannot include unpaid trial shifts as part of the hiring or orientation process.
Employers should pay at least the minimum wage if someone is doing work that employees do, or they’re being trained to do this work. The one exception is if the person doing the trial shift is not protected by the ESA’s minimum wage rules.
Read more in Should I be paid for training or for working a trial shift?
Wage deductions
It’s also illegal for an employer to take money from an employee’s wages because a customer did not pay.
An employer can only deduct wages because:
- the law says the employer must take money from the worker’s pay, for example, for EI
- a court orders the employer to take the money, for example, to pay child support
- the union’s collective agreement says the employer can take the money
- the employer made a mistake and overpaid the worker
An employer can also deduct wages for other reasons if the employee has agreed in writing to allow it.
But a written agreement to deduct wages because a customer did not pay is not legal. This is because the ESA lists situations where an employer can never get a written agreement from their employee to deduct wages.
One of these situations is when:
- the employer has lost cash or property, or had it stolen, and
- someone other than the employee could have taken it.
When a customer does not pay their bill, someone else could have and did take the employer’s cash or property. So, the employee is not responsible for paying it.
Read more in What can my employer deduct from my pay?
More links to the Steps to Justice website that may be helpful:
What can my employer deduct from my pay?
Should I be paid for training or for working a trial shift?
Do Ontario’s laws about pay apply to me?
Related Resources
Summary of the 2024 Actuarial Report on the Employment Insurance Premium Rate (Government of Canada)
Bill 149, Working for Workers Four Act, 2023 (Government of Ontario)
Backgrounder: Working for Workers Four Act, 2023 (Government of Ontario)
Deductions from wages (Government of Ontario)