If you’re in Ontario and dealing with Bill 148, or if you’re a restaurateur in general, you’re probably faced with increased labour costs and reporting obligations.
Now that the dust has settled and BIll 148 has been around for nearly eight months, we’ve heard from a lot of people in Ontario who are still struggling to understand Bill 148 and comply with it's asks (after all, the legislation isn't exactly an easy read). That’s why we’ve developed this handy guide to break down Bill 148 requirements and show how Ameego solves for them. It may be Bill 148 specific but we think it’s worth the read for anyone who owns a restaurant (trust us - this functionality is USEFUL!).
Read on dear friends, and learn what Bill 148 means and how you can solve for it!
Overtime
Before: Employees who have more than one rate of pay receive overtime pay at a blended rate.
Now: Calculation of overtime is based on the actual rate being earned at the time the employee works hours in excess of the applicable overtime threshold.
Ameego allows you to pay employees for multiple rates of pay depending on the job they’re doing (ex. you can easily pay a Molly minimum wage when she’s serving, and a higher wage when she’s supervising!). Because of this, overtime will always be calculated at the wage of the shift worked.
Minimum wage
Before: The general minimum wage in Ontario was set at $11.60.
Now: The general minimum wage is as follows:
- $14.00 – January 1, 2018
- $15.00 – January 1, 2019
Minimum wage for students (under 18):
- $13.15 – January 1, 2018
- $14.00 – January 1, 2019
Minimum wage for liquor servers:
- $12.20 – January 1, 2018
- $13.05 – January 1, 2019
Ameego ensures that you’re always paying your employees the correct wage. We use your POS as a master data source so you only have to maintain one data set to ensure that wages are in line with Bill 148 requirements. (Plus, our POS integration will save you a ton of time and money, especially in the wake of such massive wage increases!)
Record keeping
Before: Employers were required to keep certain information for three years after the employee ceases to be employed (name, address, start date, hours worked (daily / weekly) and certain other information).
Now: Records must now be kept for five years, and must also include: duties / times of work, on-call schedules, changes made to scheduling (including cancelled shifts), dates / hours worked, dates and times that employee with more than one wage rate worked in excess of the overtime threshold at each rate of pay, substitute holidays, documents for all leaves, vacation pay, and time.
Ameego has you covered! Ameego stores these records for easy access for as long as you’re a client (five years and more!). In addition, our shift tracker records all changes made to the schedule during and after creation, so you have a complete listing of changes (date, time, and employee stamped). Our time and attendance functionality keeps record of all shifts worked by an employee based on the shift worked, appropriate wages, and any overtime incurred. Our HR Manager also assists in documenting all leaves. (Told ya we have you covered!)
Shift changes
Before: No requirement for employers to consider individual employee requests for changes to schedules or work locations.
Now: Employees are entitled to request changes to their shift schedules or working location. All requests must be discussed with the employee and either granted, or denied (with reasons given).
Our shift shop allows employees to easily request and submit book off requests and changes to their schedule, dropping and swapping with other employees on our desktop site or via our mobile app. Managers can easily login and approve or deny these requests with a history of all changes stored in Ameego for future reference. Easy peasy!
Vacation
Before: All employees in Ontario were entitled to two weeks of paid vacation or two weeks of unpaid time off with 4% vacation pay.
Now: Paid vacation entitlements will now increase to three weeks and 6% after five years of service.
The Ameego HR manager can allow you to easily track and view vacation days taken in a year or year-to-date for any specific employee.
Scheduling
Before: No requirement to provide advanced notice of shift changes, and any employee who is sent home after working less than their full shift is entitled to the greater of wages earned or three hours of minimum wage. Also no requirement to pay on-call employees whose shifts are cancelled, and no employee right to refuse a short notice request for the employee to work or be on call.
Now: The three hour rule for cancelled shifts now requires three hours of pay at the employee’s regular rate of pay, on-call employees who are not called in or are called in for less than three hours are also entitled to be paid three hours at their regular rate of pay, employees now have the right to refuse requests to work or be on call if made on less than 96 hours’ notice, and employees are entitled to three hours of wages where a shift is cancelled on less than 48 hours’ notice, unless the cancellation is due to factors beyond the employer’s control.
All of these events can be easily tracked within the Ameego HR Manager. We allow you to keep accurate records of what went on so you’ll know who to pay and when to pay them. No more trying to remember what happened. You’ll have it all wrapped up and easy to access within Ameego!
Employee leave(s)
Before: Requirements for employee leave were much less stringent than they are now.
Now: Bill 148 mandates that employers provide leave for the following situations: personal emergency leave (10 days per year providing the employer employs at least 50 employees), pregnancy leave (12 weeks of leave after suffering a miscarriage), parental leave (35 weeks for employees who took pregnancy leave, and 61 weeks for those who did not, beginning no later than 78 weeks after the child is born), family medical leave (28 weeks of entitlement), critical illness leave (applies to the care of all critically ill family members, not limited to providing care for minor child. Entitlement set at 37 weeks to provide care to critically ill child of the employee, and 17 weeks to provide care for critically ill adult).
The Ameego HR manager was designed specifically to track employee events, and specific leave requirements are right up it’s alley! You can easily view the length of leave being granted to an employee, and see all year-to-date leave information.
Wanna make sure you’re using Ameego to its best ability and kicking Bill 148’s butt (or the butt of any other pesky legislation)? Download our handy guide right here.
Not using Ameego but convinced you should be (trust us, you SHOULD BE!). If you’re looking to add Ameego to your arsenal we’d love to help you do that. Learn how your operation can use restaurant scheduling software to align sales with labour spending and save thousands with Ameego! Book your free, no obligation demo today!
