There’s no issue with an Ontario law that allows companies with fewer than 50 employees to close without paying them severance, Labour Minister Brad Duguid said yesterday despite complaints from workers about a loophole that leaves them with nothing after decades of service.
Ontario’s Employment Standards Act allows companies with fewer than 50 employees and a payroll of less than $2.5 million to avoid paying severance when they close, which the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union and the New Democrats said is a loophole that must be closed.
NDP Leader Howard Hampton introduced a private member’s bill yesterday that would change the law so companies with at least 25 workers and a payroll exceeding $1 million would be required to pay severance.