Ontario’s Digital Platform Workers Rights Act comes into effect July 1
Starting July 1 of this year, Ontario’s Digital Platform Workers Rights Act (DPWRA) will come into effect.
Introduced in 2022 after the Working for Workers Act, this legislation focuses on creating protections for gig workers who perform ‘digital platform work’.
According to the Ontario Employment Standards Act (ESA), the legislation will specifically apply to workers providing services such as ride-share, delivery, and courier services through online platforms. Additionally, it will apply to workers even if the worker is not technically considered an employee.
Although the Act targets specific industries, Zoya Alam, an employment lawyer at Pallett Valo, urges affected employers to implement changes as soon as possible to remain compliant. “There are actually some really robust enforcement provisions under this new Act, so fines can go up to $500,000 if they're quasi-criminal. And if it's a corporation, then directors, etc.—they can be held liable as well,’” she says.
She adds that the legislation will be putting extra security measures into force, so operators will be more likely to comply.
Operators, as defined in the Act, will be required to follow these new legal obligations.
Under the ESA, the Act defines “operators” as “a person that facilitates, through the use of a digital platform, the performance of digital platform work.” For example, employers such as Uber, DoorDash and Instacart, who are considered “operators”, will be required to follow the obligations.
One of the key provisions, Alam says, is the requirement to provide information disclosure—such as giving workers details about their role, pay calculation, gratuity, and even performance evaluation criteria that may influence work—within 24 hours of signing up.
Alam explains that before this Act, operators such as Uber were not required to provide that.
“Now there's this information disclosure, sort of transparency requirement on the behalf of operators to provide it to workers,”she says.
Alam emphasizes that thorough record-keeping is both a legal obligation and a key compliance measure under the Act. “ There's a requirement to keep records for at least three years after a worker's access to the platform has ended,” she says.
According to the ESA, beyond keeping records of work assignments or tips, operators will also be required to include the worker’s name, address, and any dates the worker accessed the platform for work. Employment Standards Officers will appoint compliance officers to inspect records or investigate suspected violations, when necessary.
This new legislation also introduces a minimum wage requirement, where all operators will be required to pay digital platform workers at least the Ontario minimum wage.
Normally, on these digital platforms such as Uber, workers are characterized as contractors; therefore, under the ESA, the requirement to pay minimum wage does not apply, Alam explains.
However, this new Act states the opposite.
“If you're a worker, as defined under this Act, minimum wage is required, and whatever that minimum wage is at the time in Ontario, that has to be included,” she says.
Another major change the new legislation provides is an added layer of protection for workers when operators suspend a worker’s account or terminate them from the platform.
According to the ESA, operators will be required to provide a two-week written notice and an explanation as to why the suspension or termination is occurring. The notice will not be required if the worker is accused of gross misconduct, removed for public safety concerns, or legally unable to perform digital work, according to the ESA.
“The standard for suspension is what there's a legal standard called willful misconduct, which is very similar to what is under Ontario's ESA as well,” Alam says.
She says the provision raises questions about whether ESA termination rules apply, since the Act doesn’t distinguish between employees and contractors.
“There's always a question of, is this person an employee? Is this person a contractor? And so what are they entitled to for termination? That question will still be there, and there'll be a case-by-case analysis about that,” she adds.
To avoid any penalties and to ensure a smooth transition into these new legal obligations, Alam recommends that operators begin reviewing and revising policies, preventing reprisals, and ensuring proper pay practices and payment methods are clearly laid out.
Additionally, she adds that operators should start training staff on compliance rules under this Act.
“Even just refreshing communication tools to kind of establish the systems that will calculate and disclose payment information, any required details at each step of a work assignment,” she says.
“Taking a proactive step now will help to ensure that employers are ready—and teams are ready—when this comes into effect on July 1.”
