Doug Ford Halts Planned Minimum Wage Increase
Published September 26, 2018 at 6:51 pm
A major retailer advocacy group is praising Doug Ford and the newly elected PC government for halting a planned minimum wage increase.
The Retail Council of Canada (RCC), an industry-funded association representing more than 45,000 retailers across the country, said it “applauds” the new government’s plan to stop minimum wage from climbing to $15 an hour on January 1, 2019.
Minimum wage currently sits at $14.
Prior to the hike, which was mandated by the previous provincial government, minimum wage sat at $11.60.
The RCC says it’s calling on the Ford government to repeal Ontario Bill 148, better known as the Fair Workplaces and Better Jobs Act, entirely.
“Retailers told us that the changes to Ontario labour laws were ill-conceived and poorly drafted. In a nutshell, RCC and its members believe that many of Bill 148’s changes were harmful to business and to employment prospects for Ontarians,” the RCC said in a statement.
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The RCC says the minimum wage hike has been challenging for retailers.
“Bill 148’s single biggest cost to businesses is, of course, the increase in minimum wage, which was raised 20.7 per cent on January 1, 2018. With a further rise to $15/hour legislated for January 1, 2019, this would bring the increase to a whopping 29.3 per cent over a 12-month period.”
Minimum wage will remain at $14 an hour.
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