The Law of Work
  • Home
  • About
  • Professor David Doorey
  • Osgoode Hall LLM
  • Books
  • Guest Contributors
  • Useful Links
    • Archive
  • Home
  • About
  • Professor David Doorey
  • Osgoode Hall LLM
  • Books
  • Guest Contributors
  • Useful Links
    • Archive
The Law of Work
Law of Work Archive

Some Questions Arising from the Star's Fantastic Expose of Temp Worker Abuse

by David Doorey September 12, 2017
written by David Doorey September 12, 2017

There is a long proud line of labour reporters who over the years have influenced labour policy by shining a spotlight on abusive labour practices.  As the newspaper industry for survival in the electronic age, labour reporters have been given white slips, sometime replaced by gossip columnists whose stories get more website hits.
But here in Canada there are still some great labour reporters, and my favorite

Toronto Star Labour Reporter Sara Mojtehedzadeh (Credit: Canadian Media Guild)

Toronto Star Labour Reporter Sara Mojtehedzadeh (Credit: Canadian Media Guild)


for the past few years has been Sara Mojtehedzadeh at the Toronto Star.  Sara has focused on vulnerable workers in a series of great stories.  However her latest investigative piece reaches new heights.  Already it has put the Minister of Labour on the defensive, forcing him to concede that new laws are needed to deal with companies that exploit the use of temp placement agencies to avoid hiring their own full time employees.
The piece is called “Undercover in Temp Nation“.   Read it.  Then read it again.  This article will be used in work law and work study courses for years to come.  Sara went undercover as a temp worker at a large Toronto industrial baker called Fiera Foods, a company I pass on my drive to York University and that I have never paid any attention to before.  The story describes how three temp workers have already been killed in accidents at Fiera Foods.  It also notes that the Ontario Liberals lauded Fiera in 2013 for creating “good jobs”, how it has received millions of dollars in tax payer subsidies, and how it donated $25,000 to the Liberals since 2010.
Sara describes a modern day sweatshop staffed by an army of workers, the vast
Fiera Foods in Toronto (Source: Toronto Star)

Fiera Foods in Toronto (Source: Toronto Star)


majority of whom do not work for Fiera but rather are employed by a ‘temp agency’ called Magnus.  Magnus is a virtual temp agency (it has no physical work site where employees go) “hires” Sara without ever meeting her and assigns her to Fierra Foods.  She is given 5 minutes of ‘training’ and begins work on a gruelling pastry assembly line.  To collect her pay, she is told to go to a non-descript money lender store on Steeles Avenue called “Cashmania”, where she is given cash and told that Magnus employees do not receive pay stubs and no statutory deductions are made.  It’s all under the table and off the records.
Of immediate interest to us work law folks is the long series of illegalities described in the story.  Rather than list them, I will leave you the reader to identity what potential statutory violations arise in the story.  I will just note as a hint that there are multiple statutes engaged.  (Special nudge:  Do any human rights issues arise in the story?)
Questions and Issues for Discussion
The government says it is exploring how to regulate temp agencies to discourage employers from using them instead of hiring full-time employees.
So far the government has focused on a law requiring temp workers to be paid equal to full-time employees of the company they are assigned to.  The idea is that this will remove the incentive for business to use temps.  Do you think that idea will work?
Sara the reporter notes that such a law would have little effect at a place like Fiera because virtually all of the workers are temps and they are paid just barely above minimum wage in any event.  
Another benefit to employers of using temp agencies is that legally the workers are employees of the temp company and not the ‘client’ business they are assigned to.   Therefore, workers’ compensation premiums must be paid by the temp agencies and the client saves on those costs.  Should the government require that workers’ comp premiums are the responsibility of the client of the temp agency?  Would that make a difference in the use of temps?
What about a law that restricted the use of temps to a certain percentage of a client’s workforce?  Is that law workable in practice?  Why or why not?
What about unionization?  The Ontario government has proposed in Bill 148 to introduce ‘card check certification’ in the temp placement agency, along with a  requirement for the temp employer to provide a list of names and contract information.  This may enable unions to organize temp workers and bargain collective agreements.  What if any obstacles do you foresee arising in relation to the unionization of temp agencies?
What other options exist to legislate in a manner that would discourage companies from using precarious temp workers rather than hire their own employees?
 

2 comments
0
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
David Doorey

Professor Doorey is an Associate Professor of Work Law and Industrial Relations at York University. He is Academic Director of Osgoode Hall Law School’s executive LLM Program in Labour and Employment Law and a Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School’s Labor and Worklife Program. Professor Doorey is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School (LL.B., Ph.D), London School of Economics (LLM Labour Law), and the University of Toronto (B.A., M.I.R.).

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

previous post
Can an Employer Order a Female Employee to Wear a Bra at Work?
next post
Announcing the New "Law of Work Best Paper Award"

You may also like

This Blog Entry is About the Lunacy of...

July 21, 2019

A Cross Country Update on the Card-Check versus...

October 3, 2018

The Folly of Not Voting to Strike in...

September 16, 2018

Unifor Posts Photos of Replacement Workers as Gander...

September 10, 2018

A Wrongful Dismissal Case and the Absence of...

August 29, 2018

China Said to Quickly Withdraw Approval for New...

August 27, 2018

The Latest Hot E-Commerce Idea in China: The...

August 27, 2018

The Trump Administration Just Did Something Unambiguously Good...

August 27, 2018

Unstable Situations Require Police In Riot Gear Face...

August 27, 2018

Trump’s War on the Justice System Threatens to...

August 27, 2018

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 338 other subscribers

Follow Us On Social Media

Twitter

Latest Tweets

David J. Doorey🇨🇦Follow

Law Prof. Talking #labor & #employment #law #Gig to the masses. Alpaca ❤️ @YorkUniversity @OsgoodeNews @LSELaw @LWPHarvard @Jacobin @OnLaborBlog https://t.co/5V9r8VPHsh

David J. Doorey🇨🇦
Retweet on TwitterDavid J. Doorey🇨🇦 Retweeted
jamesbrad263Brad James@jamesbrad263·
7h

@TheLawofWork @OFLabour Thanks for giving me space on your blog last December to bloviate and whine about this broad topic: https://lawofwork.ca/james_whysoquiet/

Reply on Twitter 1559880762480070657Retweet on Twitter 15598807624800706571Like on Twitter 1559880762480070657Twitter 1559880762480070657
TheLawofWorkDavid J. Doorey🇨🇦@TheLawofWork·
7h

It is rather striking that the @OFLabour is not leading a charge for improved access to collective bargaining.

Emphasizing improved labor standards over collective bargaining rights.

Brad James@jamesbrad263

Private sector union membership is slipping. Ways to address that could include better rights for employees to form unions (as BC has done) or building a broader-based bargaining system for franchise workers. But those aren't in this list of goals from Ontario's union federation. https://twitter.com/OFLabour/status/1559242326391791616

Reply on Twitter 1559872838995218437Retweet on Twitter 1559872838995218437Like on Twitter 15598728389952184374Twitter 1559872838995218437
Retweet on TwitterDavid J. Doorey🇨🇦 Retweeted
greenhousenytSteven Greenhouse@greenhousenyt·
21h

Breaking- NLRB says workers at Amazon warehouse in Albany NY area file petition for union election for 400 workers to join Amazon Labor Union

Reply on Twitter 1559661375890268163Retweet on Twitter 1559661375890268163182Like on Twitter 1559661375890268163930Twitter 1559661375890268163
Load More...

Categories

  • Alberta
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Australia
  • British Columbia
  • Charter of Rights and Freedoms
  • Childcare
  • Class Action
  • Climate and Just Transition
  • Collective Bargaining
  • Common Law of Employment
  • Comparative Work Law
  • competition law
  • construction
  • COVID-19
  • Diversity
  • Employee Classification
  • Employment Insurance
  • Employment Regulation
  • Europe
  • Financial Industry
  • Fissured Work
  • Freedom of Association
  • frustration of contract
  • Gig Work
  • Health and Safety
  • Health Care
  • Human Rights
  • Immigration
  • Interest Arbitration
  • International Law
  • Labour Arbitration
  • Labour Economics
  • Law of Work Archive
  • Legal Profession
  • Manitoba
  • Migrant Workers
  • Minimum Wage
  • Nova Scotia
  • OLRB
  • Ontario
  • Pension Bankruptcy
  • Privacy
  • Public Sector
  • Quebec
  • Real Life Pleadings
  • Saskatchewan
  • Scholarship
  • Sports Labour
  • Strikes and Lockouts
  • Student Post
  • Supreme Court of Canada
  • technology
  • Transnational Law
  • Uncategorized
  • Unions and Collective Bargaining
  • United States
  • Videos
  • Women and Work
  • Wrongful Dismissal
  • Home
  • About
  • Guest Contributors
Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • Guest Contributors
  • Legal Scholarship
  • Useful Links
  • Archive
Menu
  • Legal Scholarship
  • Useful Links
  • Archive

2020. Canadian Law of Work Forum. All Rights Reserved.