Ontario government consults on unified workplace tribunal

27 February 2001 - The Ontario government is consulting on improving workplace-related services, including a unified workplace tribunal aimed at improving efficiency and client access to workplace-related services according to Labour Minister Chris Stockwell. 5 ministries are currently involved with workplace-related services carried out by 10 agencies and tribunals. Each has its own way of conducting business, resulting in uncertainty for workers, employers and organizations.

"We want to make sure that the people who rely on the system - employers, employees, unions and associations - have access to an efficient, effective, co-ordinated and integrated process," said Stockwell.

The government's proposals are outlined in the consultation paper Looking Forward: A New Tribunal for Ontario's Workplaces. The Ministry of Labour plans to hold public consultations during March and April 2001.

"We remain committed to protecting the public interest and providing a high level of client service," said Stockwell. "Our proposals would provide a fair and impartial system with quick resolution of workplace-related disputes."

Key features of proposed unified tribunal

* Merge 6 separate tribunals: the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal, Education Relations Commission, College Relations Commission and Board of Inquiry under the Human Rights Code. They all have their own rules of procedure and case management processes - and some have overlapping jurisdictions. The government argues that result is uncertainty for workers, employers and organizations.

Proposed unified tribunal would (from government factsheet):

 - Provide a single window of access to full range of workplace-related, adjudicative services.
 - Make special efforts to serve people who come to the tribunal and who do not have legal or other representation.
 - Have processes to encourage early negotiations.
 - Manage cases quickly and efficiently.
 - Provide for structured mediation as an integral part of the dispute resolution process.
 - Implement information technology improvements as a result of consolidation.
 - Have one Chair as well as vice-chairs, all appointed for fixed terms by Order in Council. Membership of the tribunal would reflect expertise in the fields of employment standards, workplace safety insurance, occupational health and safety standards, labour relations disputes, and pay equity and human rights.
- Have single adjudicators hear most cases.
- Allow for third party input and consultation on cases of significant public interest such as important human rights and pay equity cases.

The Ministry of Labour has already taken the following consolidating initiatives:

- Merger of the Office of Adjudication - previously hearing employment standards and health and safety appeals - with the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

- Administrative services for the Education Relations Commission and the College Relations Commission now provided by Ontario Labour Relations Board and the Ministry of Labour.

- Centralized conciliation and mediation services for teachers and firefighters.

- Ontario Labour Relations Board, Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal and Board of Inquiry under the Human Rights Code already share office space and administrative services. Also some adjudicators appointed to more than one of the tribunals.

Union reaction

Sid Ryan, Ontario president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said: "There is nothing fair and equitable in the Ontario government's move to eliminate tribunals that rule on human rights complaints, pay equity claims, labour disputes and appeals by injured workers and replace them with a single 'mega-panel' of adjudicators hand-picked by Tories."

He added that consolidating 10-boards and tribunals is another way of diluting workers' rights and human rights. Ryan is concerned that creating a "mega-bureaucracy will gum-up the system further and that the Tory- selected adjudicators won't have the expertise or the unbiased distance from government to deal with complicated and diverse issues such as pay equity and injured workers appeals."

He also argues that the appointment of adjudicators to such a mega-tribunal will be skewed in favour of employers:

"The Tories have already had their knuckles rapped in a court decision that agreed with labour that the Tory-appointed retired judges used in arbitrating the complaints of hospital workers were not impartial, but biased. The court ruled, that the government was trying to control the arbitration process and that it (government) could not appoint anymore retired judges.

"But this government never gives-up on trying to shift the balance in favour of employers. This time they are attempting to level their injustice on our most vulnerable workers and we are absolutely opposed to it," says Ryan.

Full details of the Workplace-Related Agency Reform Project Consultation Paper, Looking Forward: A New Tribunal for Ontario's Workplaces are at www.gov.on.ca/lab/main.htm.