Fairness
in the Workplace:
Repeal the 60-hour Workweek
 publicpower
means
fair workplaces and a shorter, not longer, workweek.
.
The
NDP would move quickly to modernize
rules that protect men and women in their workplaces.
 Conservatives:
The Conservatives' Bill 147 amended the Employment Standards
Act giving employers the right to ask workers to work up to 60 hours
a week without the need for special Ministry of Labour permission.
From 1944 to
2000 the law in Ontario protected workers from being required to
work more
than eight hours a day or 48 hours a week unless the employee agreed
to work the extra
hours and a special permit was issued by the government. Now, a
worker can "agree" to work
up to 60 hours a week without a permit and with no protection against
an employer who says
"agree or quit".
Bill 147 was
a huge step backward for worker protection in several other ways:
- Instead of
entitling workers to collect overtime pay for work in excess of
44 hours in a
week, Bill 147 allows employers and workers to "agree"
to average the hours over four weeks;
- A worker
is "allowed" to take vacation one day at a time instead
of in one or two week
- periods;
and,
- An employer
and worker can "agree" to split the lunch period into
two shorter periods.
 Liberals:
In their platform the McGuinty Liberals commit to ending
the 60 hour workweek - but not to restoring a 40 hour workweek.
NDP:
Most men and women find they are working harder and longer, but
falling farther behind. One in four Canadians is now working more
than 50 hours a week, compared with one in ten a decade ago.
The NDP
would enact legislation that would:
- Make a standard
work week 40 hours long.
- Any work
over 48 hours a week would require a special permit.
- Overtime
would be paid for any work over 48 hours in a week or eight hours
in a day.
- Vacations
could no longer be split except by special permit.
- Lunch hours
could no longer be split except by special permit.
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