Ontario Labour Reforms Well Received

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Ontario Labour Reforms Well Received

Toronto, June 19th – In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 1003 Ontario voters, three-quarters (74%) say that they approve of the provincial government increasing the minimum vacation from two weeks to three weeks for employees that have been with a company for at least five years. Only (18%) disapprove, with (8%) saying they do not know.

Respondents most likely to say they approve of the increase to vacation time include anyone under the age of 65: 34 or younger (75%), 35-44 (76%), 45-54 (75%), 55-64 (74%), earning $40,000-$60,000 (78%), living in Toronto (81%), with a post-graduate degree (79%), and supporting the Liberals (90%).

Respondents most likely to say they do not approve of the increase to vacation time includes those 65+ (25%), earning $60,000-$80,000 (24%) or $80,000-$100,000 (25%), males (25%), living in Southwestern Ontario (25%), and supporting the PCs (30%).

Same job/same pay

More than two-thirds (67%) say that they approve of the provincial government’s decision to mandate that employees doing the same job must be paid the same, regardless of their employment status. A quarter (24%) say that they disapprove, with fewer than 1 in 10 (9%) saying they don’t know.

Respondents most likely to say they approve of the same pay for the same job include those 65+ (80%), females (72%), earning $20,000-$40,000 (76%) or $40,000-$60,000 (75%), living in the 905 (72%), with a post-graduate degree (75%), and supporting the NDP (84%).

Respondents most likely to say that they disapprove of the same pay for the same job include those aged 34 and younger (29%) or 35-44 (29%), males (28%), earning $60,000-$80,000 (30%), $80,000-$100,000 (28%), or the most wealthy (28%), living in Southwestern Ontario (29%), with some college/university (25%) or a post-graduate degree (27%), and supporting the Progressive Conservatives (37%).

Majority approve of offering pay to shift workers cancelled with short notice

More than half (57%) say that they approve of the government introducing rules that say employers that cancel an employee’s shift with less than 48 hours-notice must compensate their employee with three hours pay. More than a quarter (27%) say that they disapprove of the decision, with (16%) saying they do not know, the highest proportion of do not knows recorded on these four reforms. 

Respondents most likely to approve of the decision include those aged 34 or younger (61%) or 35-44 (58%), earning $20,000-$40,000 (69%), living in Toronto (65%), with a post-graduate degree (64%), and supporting the NDP (72%).

Respondents most likely to disapprove include those earning $80,000-$100,000 (39%), living in Southwestern Ontario (37%), with a college/university degree (30%), and supporting the Progressive Conservatives (37%).

More than half approve of minimum wage increase

The majority of respondents (53%) say they approve of increasing the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour. Almost 4 in 10 (38%) disapprove, the highest proportion of disapproval amongst the four government labour reforms surveyed. Fewer than 1 in 10 say they do not know (9%).

Respondents most likely to say they approve of the minimum wage increase include those aged 35-44 (56%), 55-64 (56%), or 65+ (59%), females (59%), earning $20,000-$40,000 (66%), living in Toronto (63%), with a post-graduate degree (65%), and supporting the Liberals (79%).

Respondents most likely to say they disapprove of the minimum wage increase include those aged 34 and younger (40%), 45-54 (41%), or 55-64 (38%), males (45%), earning $60,000-$80,000 (47%) or $80,000-$100,000 (49%), living in Southwestern Ontario (47%), the least educated (40%) or with some college/university (42%), and supporting the Progressive Conservatives (62%).

 

“In most cases a considerable majority of voters support the Ontario Government’s recently introduced labour reforms,” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. “The government receives a wide measure of support on their reforms both from their own supporters and from the supporters of the NDP.”

Lorne Bozinoff, Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.