Bill 149, the Working for Workers Four Act, 2024, amends multiple Ontario statutes to impose new transparency and payment rules for employers and to expand certain benefits for injured workers. Key changes create a statutory duty to include expected compensation in publicly advertised job postings (with prescribed exceptions), prohibit listing ‘Canadian experience’ as a requirement, require disclosure when employers use AI to screen candidates, tighten rules on how tips can be paid and require employers to post tip‑sharing policies, and add a presumption that primary‑site esophageal cancer in qualifying firefighters is work‑related.
The bill also gives the Lieutenant Governor in Council expansive regulation‑making authority — to set pay period limits for digital platform workers, define compliance rules for minimum wage under the platform workers’ statute, prescribe how regulated professions assess applicants, and allow the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board to apply an additional indexing factor to benefit amounts on prescribed dates. Practically, the Act creates immediate compliance tasks for HR, payroll and regulated bodies while shifting many operational details to forthcoming regulations.
At a Glance
What It Does
Requires employers who post publicly advertised job openings to disclose expected compensation or a compensation range, bans specifying ‘Canadian experience’ in such postings, and forces disclosure when employers use AI for screening. It prescribes permitted methods for paying tips, requires conspicuous posting and retention of tip‑sharing policies, and modifies digital platform and WSIB rules including a firefighter esophageal‑cancer presumption and a mechanism for additional indexing of WSIB amounts.
Who It Affects
Employers who publicly advertise positions in Ontario (including recruiters), payroll and HR teams managing tip distribution and direct deposit, regulators of licensed professions that assess qualifications, digital platform operators covered by the Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act, and firefighters, fire investigators and WSIB claimants.
Why It Matters
The Act advances pay transparency and procedural safeguards around automated hiring tools while imposing concrete record‑keeping and payment rules that will change recruitment and payroll workflows. For injured workers it lowers a barrier to WSIB entitlement for a specific cancer, and the indexing powers give the government a new lever to adjust benefit amounts outside the annual January 1 cycle.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The Act is a multi‑part package that pushes employers toward more transparent hiring and clearer handling of gratuities while carving out new presumptions and administrative tools in workers’ compensation rules. For hiring, it creates a distinct Part III.1 in the Employment Standards Act: employers who place a publicly advertised job posting must include information about expected pay or a pay range, and must not ask for “Canadian experience” in the posting — although regulations can identify limited exceptions.
If an employer uses artificial intelligence to screen, assess or select applicants for a posted job, the posting must disclose that fact. The legislation delegates detailed definitions (for instance, what counts as a “publicly advertised job posting” and the meaning of “artificial intelligence”) and carve‑outs to regulation.
On remuneration and payroll, the Act tightens direct deposit rules by requiring that accounts used for wages or tips be in the employee’s name, be selected by the employee and meet any prescribed criteria; it also sets out the only permitted ways to pay tips (cash, cheque payable solely to the employee, direct deposit to an employee‑selected account, or other prescribed methods). Employers who require or permit sharing of tips must post the tip‑sharing policy in a conspicuous workplace location and retain copies of required postings and associated application forms for three years after they stop being publicly accessible.The digital platform amendments give the Lieutenant Governor in Council authority to prescribe maximum recurring pay‑period lengths and timelines for paydays and to set rules for determining compliance with minimum wage obligations under the Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act, including allowing regulations to specify that minimum wage need not be assessed on a per‑assignment basis.
For regulated professions, the Fair Access Act amendments require that regulators meet prescribed requirements demonstrating that qualification assessments are transparent, objective, impartial and fair — and, if a third party conducts assessments, that contracts reflect required safeguards.On workplace injuries, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act is amended to add a presumption that primary‑site esophageal cancer in qualifying firefighters or fire investigators is occupational in origin, subject to a 15‑year service threshold and diagnosis‑date rules back to 1960; the Act also creates a formal mechanism allowing the government to prescribe an additional indexing factor and dates by regulation so the Board can adjust benefit amounts more than once a year if regulations permit. Many of the Employment Standards amendments come into force three months after Royal Assent, while other provisions and several Schedule amendments await proclamation or are left to future regulations.
The Five Things You Need to Know
Employers must include expected compensation or a compensation range in every ‘publicly advertised job posting’ unless an exception is prescribed; the precise definition and carve‑outs will be set in regulation.
No publicly advertised posting may include requirements related to ‘Canadian experience’, subject to any regulatory exceptions.
If an employer uses artificial intelligence to screen, assess or select applicants for a publicly advertised job, the posting must disclose the use of that AI.
An employer may pay tips only by cash, by cheque payable exclusively to the employee, by direct deposit to an employee‑selected account in the employee’s name (with no unauthorized access), or by another prescribed method; employers must post any policy on employer/shareholder participation in tip pools and retain those policies for three years after they cease to be in effect.
The WSIA now presumes primary‑site esophageal cancer in qualifying firefighters and fire investigators is work‑related (subject to a minimum of 15 total years of service and diagnosis‑date rules back to 1960), and the government may prescribe an additional indexing factor and dates to adjust WSIB benefit amounts outside the annual adjustment cycle.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Regulatory power for pay‑period lengths and minimum‑wage compliance rules
The Schedule adds regulation‑making clauses that let the Lieutenant Governor in Council set maximum numbers of days for recurring pay periods and prescribe how soon a pay day must follow a pay period. It also allows regulations to set rules for determining compliance with the Act’s minimum wage provisions — including explicitly permitting regulations to provide that minimum wage can be assessed other than on a per‑assignment basis. For platform operators and payroll teams this means statutory flexibility: the framework is set here, but operational details, thresholds and compliance tests will arrive later by regulation.
Compensation disclosure, ban on Canadian experience, and AI disclosure
This new Part creates three substantive posting duties: include expected compensation or a range; do not request Canadian experience; and disclose the use of any AI that screens applicants. Each duty is qualified by the phrase ‘as may be prescribed’, so regulations will supply definitions (for example, what counts as a public posting, acceptable formats for ranges, and exceptions). Enforcement will flow through the Employment Standards Act’s existing complaint and enforcement machinery, but employers must begin redesigning posting templates and applicant forms to avoid non‑compliance once the provisions commence.
Permitted methods for tips, direct‑deposit controls, conspicuous posting and three‑year retention
The Act narrows how employers may distribute tips: cash, cheque payable to the employee, direct deposit to an employee‑selected account in the employee’s name (with restricted access), or a prescribed method. It also requires employers who have a policy where the employer or its directors/shareholders share tips to post that policy conspicuously and retain copies of required postings and application forms for three years after they become inaccessible to the public. Payroll operations will need to ensure accounts are employee‑selected and documented, and employers should expect administrative changes to handle cheque issuance, direct‑deposit setup, and policy posting proof.
Trial periods counted as 'training' and vacation‑pay agreement rule
The definition of ‘employee’ is amended so that work performed during a trial period counts as training for statutory purposes, which affects who is entitled to protections under the Act. The Schedule also clarifies that certain methods of paying vacation pay may be used only if the employee has agreed to those methods. These changes shift the legal status of trial work and place a premium on obtaining clear, documented employee agreements regarding vacation pay treatment.
Prescribed requirements for assessment transparency and third‑party assessors
The amendment requires that regulators meet minimum, regulation‑prescribed requirements to be considered as assessing qualifications in a transparent, objective, impartial and fair manner. Where a regulator uses a third party to assess candidates, the regulator must have taken reasonable measures — again as defined by regulation — to ensure the third party follows the same standards, including contract provisions. This pushes much of the compliance burden onto regulators and creates new contractual and procurement implications when regulators outsource assessments.
Primary‑site esophageal cancer presumption for firefighters with 15+ years’ service
The Act adds a presumption that primary‑site esophageal cancer in a worker who is prescribed under the section and who served as a full‑time, part‑time or volunteer firefighter (or as a fire investigator) for at least 15 years is occupational in origin unless the contrary is shown. The presumption applies to diagnoses from January 1, 1960, onward and interacts with existing presumptions in the section. Practically, claimants meeting the service threshold will face a lower evidentiary burden, but adjudicators must still apply exceptions where contrary evidence exists.
Power to prescribe extra indexing adjustments and related Board obligations
The Schedule creates section 52.0.1 and amends sections 54 and 111 to require the Board to apply a prescribed additional indexing factor on dates set by regulation. If the prescribed date is January 1, the Board may combine the extra factor with the standard annual factor in a single calculation; if the date is different, the Board must apply the additional factor to amounts that became payable between January 1 and the prescribed date. The Lieutenant Governor in Council may set those factors and dates and attach terms or limits. This gives the government a discrete tool to modify benefit levels on a timetable other than the usual annual adjustment.
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Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Job applicants and workers (including newcomers): the ban on ‘Canadian experience’ requirements and mandatory pay‑range disclosure reduce hiring barriers and increase transparency for wage negotiation.
- Employees who receive tips (hospitality and service workers): clearer permitted payment methods, an employee‑selected direct‑deposit requirement, mandatory posting of tip‑sharing policies and a three‑year retention rule strengthen control and visibility over gratuity distribution.
- Firefighters, fire investigators and their survivors: the new presumption for primary‑site esophageal cancer lowers the evidentiary hurdle for WSIB claims where service meets the 15‑year threshold, potentially increasing access to benefits.
- Regulatory applicants to regulated professions: prescribed standards for assessments and third‑party assessors aim to improve fairness and predictability in credentialing decisions.
- Platform workers and their payroll administrators: regulation of recurring pay‑period lengths and payday timing provides a statutory backstop to payment timing and minimum‑wage compliance methods under the platform workers’ statute.
Who Bears the Cost
- Employers that publicly advertise positions (HR departments and recruiters): they must change posting templates, track required disclosures, manage exceptions, and keep records for three years — creating administrative and potential IT costs.
- Small employers and sole proprietors using informal hiring channels: compliance with disclosure, AI‑use notices and retention requirements may be disproportionately burdensome relative to hiring volume.
- Employers who pool or redistribute tips (hospitality operators and franchisees): tighter rules on tip distribution, posting obligations and employee access to tip accounts could reduce managerial flexibility and require operational changes.
- Payroll teams and financial institutions: implementing employee‑selected direct deposit accounts for tips and wages, verifying account ownership and enforcing access limitations will increase onboarding and audit work.
- Provincial administration and WSIB: the cancer presumption and any additional indexing factors could increase claim volumes and cost pressures, while implementing extra indexing calculations creates operational work for the Board.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill pits stronger worker protections and transparency (pay ranges, AI disclosure, tip safeguards, and presumptive WSIB coverage) against employer flexibility and administrative simplicity; it resolves that tension by setting high‑level rules in statute while leaving precise, and potentially consequential, implementation details to regulation — a trade‑off that shifts the real policy fights into the rule‑making phase.
The Act establishes policy directions but delegates detailed design to regulation, creating two layers of uncertainty. For employers and regulators the central question will be how broadly the Lieutenant Governor in Council defines a ‘publicly advertised job posting’, what exceptions are permitted, how tightly the ‘Canadian experience’ ban is circumscribed, and what technical thresholds apply to AI disclosures.
Those regulatory choices will determine whether the changes are administrable or create coverage gaps and compliance traps.
Operationally, the tip‑payment rules improve transparency but introduce frictions: requiring cheques or employee‑selected direct deposits as permitted methods may be infeasible for some employers and employees without bank accounts, and enforcement hinges on post‑hoc proof of conspicuous postings and retained records. The WSIA changes simplify claimants’ paths for a specific disease but create questions about service verification (how volunteer service counts towards the 15‑year threshold) and fiscal predictability: the additional indexing mechanism gives the government discretion to ratchet benefits, which can be used to respond to cost pressures but also makes long‑term WSIB liability less predictable for employers and the Board.
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