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Whose Burden Is It? The Yo-Yoing Responsibility of Proving Whether Someone Is an Employee or an Independent Contractor
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Whose Burden Is It? The Yo-Yoing Responsibility of Proving Whether Someone Is an Employee or an Independent Contractor

By October 17, 2019March 4th, 2022No Comments

Whether you are classified as an employee versus an independent contractor is important for several reasons. For one, employees are entitled to statutory benefits and protections under the Employment Standards Act (ESA), such as minimum wage, notice of termination, severance pay and overtime pay. Independent contractors enjoy no such entitlement to ESA benefits and protections.

In late 2017, the Ontario government amended several aspects of the ESA through the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, also known as Bill 148. Particularly notable was Bill 148’s tightening of the law with respect to classifying people as independent contractors. For employers who classified employees as independent contractors, Bill 148 shifted the onus to the business, rather than the employee, to prove that the individual was not an employee in the event that a dispute arose over the classification.

On November 21, 2018, the Ontario government reversed many of Bill 148’s changes to the ESA through the Making Ontario Open for Business Act. This included changes to the burden of proof with respect to the classification of individuals as employees versus independent contractors. Now, the ‘reverse onus’ in Bill 148 that placed the burden of proof on an employer to prove the proper classification of a particular person has been repealed. An individual once again carries the burden of proof with respect to proving whether that person is an employee rather than an independent contractor.

While businesses are certainly thankful for these changes, employees should be proactive and exercise caution in reviewing employment contracts in order to ensure that they have been classified properly, either as an employee or as an independent contractor. In the event of misclassification, employees are once again responsible for proving the misclassification, making it extremely important for individuals to avoid such disputes whenever possible.

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