All employers in Ontario are required by the Employment Standards Act, 2000 to post the Ministry of Labour’s poster about employee rights and obligations in a conspicuous place in their workplace. Employers must also provide a copy of the poster to all employees.
As of January 1, 2018, the Ministry of Labour has issued an updated poster. Employers should post this new version immediately and send a copy of it to all employees. The new poster is available to employers on the Ministry’s website at this link.
While you are on the Ministry’s website, you will notice that there are versions of the poster available in numerous different languages. This is because employers have two additional obligations with regard to the poster:
- If a majority of the workplace speaks a language other than English, the employer must determine if the employees speak a language for which a translated version of the poster is available from the Ministry’s site and, if so, post that version beside the English one. To be clear, there is no obligation for employers to translate the poster themselves.
- If an employee requests a copy of the poster in a language other than English, the employer must see if one is available among the available translated versions on the Ministry’s site and provide that version to the employee.
Finally, remember if you hire any new employees that they must be provided a copy of the poster within 30 days of their start date.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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