Bill 94 2012

An Act to address Ontario's debt through alternatives to public sector layoffs and government program cuts while reducing the fiscal pressure on the people of Ontario who are having trouble paying their bills

Note: This Act amends the Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act, 1993.  For the legislative history of the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public Statutes – Detailed Legislative History at www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

Preamble

Since 2003, the annual deficit of the Province of Ontario has increased alarmingly and is projected to be $30.2 billion by 2017-2018. Accumulated debt of the Province is projected to be $411.4 billion by 2017-2018. The need to service this debt severely impairs the ability of the Province to function and has led to increased levels of taxation that seriously impair the ability of businesses in Ontario to compete economically and of individuals to survive financially.

It is vital that the Province get its finances in order, otherwise there will be no alternative but to cut government programs significantly which will inevitably lead to layoffs in the public sector and a lower level of Government service to the people of Ontario. To avoid those extreme and harsh solutions, the Government of Ontario needs to act immediately to limit increases in compensation paid to employees in the public sector, while recognizing its legal duty to consult fully with those employees and the bargaining agents representing them and to negotiate with them constructively and in good faith.

Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Interpretation

   1.  (1)  In this Act,

"advisory board" means the board established by a regulation made under section 10; ("conseil consultatif")

"collective agreement" means an agreement between an employer and a bargaining agent representing employees containing provisions respecting terms or conditions of employment or the rights, privileges or duties of the employer or the employees; ("convention collective")

"comparison date" means, with respect to any year starting on the effective date or any anniversary of that date, the day on which the year starts; ("date de référence")

"comparison position" means, with respect to an employee employed in a position in the public sector,

  (a)  the employee's position, if it existed on the comparison date and the employee was employed in the position on that date, or

  (b)  the most comparable position to the employee's position, taking into account the employee's skills and experience and all other relevant factors that affect the employee's remuneration, if the latter position did not exist on the comparison date or if the employee was not employed in the latter position on that date; ("poste de référence")

"compensation" means all forms of payment, benefits and perquisites paid or provided, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of a person who performs duties and functions that entitle the person to be paid, and includes discretionary payments; ("rémunération")

"compensation plan" means the provisions, however established, for the determination and administration of a person's compensation; ("régime de rémunération")

"effective date" means, with respect to a position in the public sector in which an employee of an employer is employed,

  (a)  the day this Act receives Royal Assent if, on that day, there is no collective agreement or other agreement that sets the employee's annual compensation and binds the employer, or

  (b)  the day immediately after the day the collective agreement or other agreement that sets the employee's annual compensation and that binds the employer expires, if such an agreement is in force on the day this Act receives Royal Assent; ("date d'effet")

"employee", "employer" and "public sector" have the same meaning as in subsection 2 (1) of the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1996; ("employé", "employeur", "secteur public")

"expenditures" means, for a fiscal year of the Province, the expenditures shown in the financial statements for the Province as set out in the Public Accounts for the year; ("dépenses")

"rate of pay" means the rate of remuneration or, where no such rate exists, any fixed or ascertainable amount of remuneration; ("taux de salaire")

"revenues" means, for a fiscal year of the Province, the revenues shown in the financial statements for the Province as set out in the Public Accounts for the year. ("revenus")

Deficit

   (2)  For the purposes of this Act, the Province has a deficit in a fiscal year if the amount of the expenditures for the year is greater than the revenues for the year.

Duty to consult fully when bargaining

   2.  (1)  Every employer shall consult fully with the bargaining agents representing employees of the employer when bargaining for a collective agreement but also take into account the importance of ensuring the good fiscal health of the employer.

Same, no collective agreement

   (2)  Every employer shall consult fully with the employees of the employer who are not represented by a bargaining agent when bargaining for an agreement that sets the compensation of the employees but also take into account the importance of ensuring the good fiscal health of the employer.

Compliance with this Act

   3.  Every employer shall ensure that there is compliance with this Act with respect to the employer's employees.

Limit on pay increases

   4.  (1)  Except as permitted by subsection (2), the annual rate of pay for an employee employed in a position in the public sector for any year starting on the effective date or any anniversary of that date shall not exceed the annual rate of pay for the comparison position that was in effect on the comparison date, increased by,

  (a)  the annual rate of change in the real gross domestic product of Ontario, as recognized by Statistics Canada as of December 31 that fell in that year, if that rate of change is more than zero per cent; or

  (b)  zero per cent, if the annual rate of change in the real gross domestic product of Ontario as described in clause (a) is zero per cent or less.

Increase in minimum wage

   (2)  If, after the effective date, the annual rate of pay for an employee falls below the minimum wage established under Part IX of the Employment Standards Act, 2000, the annual rate of pay may be increased to match the minimum wage.

Vacation without compensation

   (3)  Nothing in subsection (1) prevents an employer, for the purpose of complying with that subsection, from,

  (a)  agreeing with a bargaining agent representing employees of the employer that the employees will take vacation leave without any compensation; or

  (b)  agreeing with an employee of the employer who is not represented by a bargaining agent that the employee will take vacation leave without any compensation.

Limit on increases in benefits

   5.  (1)  The value of all benefits, perquisites and payments provided, during any year starting on the effective date or any anniversary of that date, to an employee employed in a position in the public sector under a compensation plan, as it existed on the effective date, shall not exceed the value of all benefits, perquisites and payments provided to an employee employed in the comparison position during the year immediately preceding the comparison date, increased by,

  (a)  the annual rate of change in the real gross domestic product of Ontario, as recognized by Statistics Canada as of December 31 that fell in the year starting on the comparison date, if that rate of change is more than zero per cent; or

  (b)  zero per cent, if the annual rate of change in the real gross domestic product of Ontario as described in clause (a) is zero per cent or less.

Defined contribution pension plan

   (2)  Nothing in subsection (1) prevents an employer, for the purpose of complying with that subsection, from,

  (a)  agreeing with a bargaining agent representing employees of the employer that the employees will convert their pension plan from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan; or

  (b)  agreeing with an employee of the employer who is not represented by a bargaining agent that the employee will convert his or her pension plan from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan.

Overpayment of compensation

   6.  Compensation paid to an employee in the public sector in contravention of section 4 or 5 is a debt due to the employer and the employer may recover it by any remedy or other procedure available to the employer by law, including by setting it off against compensation owing to the employee that the employer has not yet paid to the employee.

Term of agreements

   7.  (1)  Despite any other Act or any agreement between an employer and a bargaining agent representing employees of the employer who are not subject to the Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act, 1993, a collective agreement made between the employer and the bargaining agent on or after the day this Act receives Royal Assent shall provide that it is effective for a term of no more than one year.

Same, not a collective agreement

   (2)  Despite any other Act or any agreement between an employer and an employee of the employer who is not subject to the Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act, 1993, an agreement made on or after the day this Act receives Royal Assent between the employer and the employee that sets the annual compensation of the employee shall provide that it is effective for a term of no more than one year.

Exception

   (3)  Subsection (1) does not apply to a collective agreement and subsection (2) does not apply to an agreement described in that subsection if, at the end of the fiscal year of the Province that immediately precedes the day on which the agreement is made, the Province did not have a deficit.

Conflict with this Act

   8.  (1)  This Act prevails over any provision of a compensation plan and, if there is a conflict between this Act and a compensation plan, the compensation plan is inoperative to the extent of the conflict.

Same, other laws

   (2)  This Act prevails over any other Act and over any regulation, by-law or other statutory instrument.

Exception

   (3)  Nothing in this Act shall be interpreted or applied so as to reduce any right or entitlement under the Human Rights Code, the Pay Equity Act or section 42 or 44 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000.

Same

   (4)  Nothing in this Act shall be interpreted or applied so as to prevent the application of the insurance plan under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 to an individual to whom the insurance plan did not apply on the day this Act receives Royal Assent.

Compliance reports by employer

   9.  (1)  Every employer shall give the Minister responsible for the administration of this Act the reports that are prescribed concerning the employer's compliance with this Act.

Submission of reports

   (2)  Each report must be submitted in the prescribed form and manner and within the prescribed period.

Contents of reports

   (3)  Each report shall include a statement signed by the employer's highest ranking officer certifying whether the employer has complied with this Act.

Advisory board

   10.  The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by regulation, establish a board to advise the employer on compensation paid to employees employed in positions in the private sector that the board feels are most comparable to positions in the public sector.

Regulations

   11.  The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,

  (a)  governing how rates of pay and benefits, perquisites and payments provided under a compensation plan are to be valued;

  (b)  determining what constitutes a comparison position;

   (c)  appointing members to the advisory board and providing for the replacement of members of the board;

  (d)  governing the terms of office of members of the advisory board;

  (e)  providing for the payment of the remuneration or the reasonable reimbursement of expenses to members of the advisory board that the regulation specifies;

    (f)  specifying how many members of the advisory board constitute a quorum;

  (g)  governing the procedures and practices of the advisory board or permitting the board to establish its own procedures and practices;

   (h)  specifying additional duties of the advisory board that are related to the duty described in section 10, including the duty to submit reports to the employer in accordance with the requirements specified in the regulation;

    (i)  authorizing the advisory board to request the information that it considers relevant and appropriate from any person or body in order to carry out its duties and requiring the person or body so requested to produce the information;

    (j)  authorizing the advisory board to hold hearings to which the Statutory Powers Procedure Act shall apply;

   (k)  authorizing the advisory board to serve a summons requiring any person to attend a hearing before the advisory board, to provide testimony on oath or affirmation or in another manner, and to produce any information under the person's power or control;

    (l)  requiring the advisory board to keep confidential the information about compensation that it receives and to not disclose it except in a de-identified form and for the purposes of carrying out its duties;

(m)  permitting the advisory board, subject to the conditions, if any, that the regulation specifies, to delegate any of its duties or powers to one of its members or a committee of its members;

   (n)  authorizing the employees that are necessary for the conduct of the advisory board's work to be appointed under Part III of the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006;

  (o)  specifying any matter that is described as prescribed in this Act.

   12.  Section 27 of the Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act, 1993 is amended by adding the following subsection:

One-year agreements

   (3)  Despite subsection (2), a collective agreement that is made on or after the day the Addressing Ontario's Debt Through Alternatives to Public Sector Layoffs and Program Cuts Act, 2012 receives Royal Assent shall provide that it is effective for a term of no more than one year.

Commencement

   13.  This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

   14.  The short title of this Act is the Addressing Ontario's Debt Through Alternatives to Public Sector Layoffs and Program Cuts Act, 2012.

 

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Starting on the day when a collective agreement or other agreement that sets the annual compensation of an employee employed in the public sector expires, the Bill limits the increase in the employee's annual compensation to the annual rate of change in the real gross domestic product of Ontario, as recognized by Statistics Canada as of December 31 that fell in that year, if that rate of change is more than zero per cent. Compensation of an employee includes not only remuneration, but also all benefits, perquisites and payments provided to the employee. If an employee did not hold the same position of employment in the public sector at the beginning of the year in which increases in annual compensation are limited, the most comparable position to the employee's position is used for the purposes of applying the limit.

A collective agreement or other agreement that sets the annual compensation of an employee employed in the public sector is limited to a one-year term if it is made after the Bill is enacted.

The Lieutenant Governor in Council can make regulations governing how compensation is to be valued and establishing a board to advise the employer on compensation paid to employees employed in positions in the private sector that the board feels are most comparable to positions in the public sector.