Bill 66, Ontario’s newest law to boost competitiveness, has passed third reading and received Royal Assent at Queen’s Park — so it is now law and it directly affects Dentists!
The new law changes rules around mandatory posters and overtime.
ESA Posters
Dentists are no longer forced to post the Employment Standards Act Poster in their practices, but they still have to deliver a soft/hard copy of the poster to employees in the majority language spoken in the practice.
Overtime Rules
The new law loosens the rules around “overtime averaging” that will make it easier for dentists and their team members to anticipate overtime needs in the office.
Work that is considered “overtime” is defined in a few ways:
- working more than 44 hours in one week (and each additional hour is paid at 1.5 the wage), or
- working more than 8 hours a day, or
- working more than the number of hours in a regular work day (if more than 8 hours), or
- working more than 48 hours in one week.
Previously, the law said that employers must request approval from the Ministry of Labour to make an agreement with an employee to work more than 48 hours in one week, and for employers and employees to agree to average out an employees hours to avoid paying overtime.
That has all changed.
The law was amended to remove the Ministry’s approval for employers to make agreements that allow an employee to work more than 48 hours in one week (without waiting on ministry approval).
The law was also amended to remove the Ministry’s approval for employers to make averaging agreements to determine when overtime is paid. Now, with the right written agreement, an employer and employee can simply agree to have the employee’s hours averaged over 2, 3, or 4 weeks and confirm overtime will not be paid (without waiting on ministry approval).
