The number of law-breaking Ontario bosses facing prosecution has risen by more than 40 per cent over the past year, statistics requested by the Star show, with more fines than in any other year on record for employers who failed to pay workers.

The provincial Ministry of Labour convicted 122 employers in 2016 for failing to meet employment standards, including refusing to comply with government orders to pay their workers. Such convictions come with hefty financial penalties in the thousands of dollars — and possible imprisonment.

It’s a significant jump from last year, when the ministry launched about 70 such proceedings, which are called Part III prosecutions. In 2014, the ministry prosecuted eight employers for breaking employment laws.

“We know that some employers are not taking orders as seriously as they should. In an effort to improve compliance with the Employment Standards Act, we have intensified our focus on additional enforcement tools, including prosecutions,” said Janet Deline, a ministry spokesperson.

As highlighted by the Star, research conducted for the province’s current Changing Workplaces Review, which is considering legal reform to protect precarious workers, shows victims of wage theft across Ontario have lost out on $28 million over the past six years because the ministry failed to collect the money owed them by law-breaking bosses. A Star investigation this year revealed that about one-third of workers’ stolen entitlements in Ontario are never recovered, which some critics blame on a lax enforcement regime that rarely penalizes stingy bosses.

The ministry can also issue tickets of $295 to employers who break the law. Taking these into account, Deline said, in 2015-16 employers were fined more than 950 times for withholding wages from workers — the highest number to date.

Deena Ladd of the Toronto-based Workers’ Action Centre said the ministry had “a lot of catching up to do,” but said it was “great to see that it’s moving in a new direction.

“Employers need to have a strong message to them by the (ministry) that these things will not be tolerated.”

In July, the ministry published its interim report on the Changing Workplaces Review, which said Ontario also faces “serious” and extensive problems enforcing basic employment rights, leaving thousands of vulnerable workers open to abuse.

The report also suggested there is “significant non-compliance with basic legal obligations” at employers across Ontario. Ministry blitzes regularly find violations in more than 75 per cent of workplaces inspected.

Jonathan Ozols waited four years to receive $900 in unpaid wages from his former employer, the owner of a now-defunct Toronto café. He had given up on ever seeing the money — until the Ministry of Labour finally collected it from his boss this summer.

“It’s not so much even the level of initiative, it’s the speed,” he said. “Is everyone going to wait half a decade for their money? People need to live their lives and pay rent.”

As previously reported by the Star, workers file consistently file about 15,000 to 20,000 employment standards claims a year. On average, the ministry finds 85 per cent of assessed complaints concerning unpaid wages or termination pay valid.

Ladd said that given the volume of substantiated claims, the number of prosecutions in Ontario is still low.

“Of course there are good employers, of course there are those who want to do the right thing, but they themselves are also being negatively impacted by the fact that the employer down the street is choosing to break the law.

“We’re waiting to see some very strong recommendations coming out (of the Changing Workplaces Review) to the guide the Ministry into a stronger enforcement process,” she added.

Deline said it was “important to note that prosecutions are not appropriate in every case.

“Each situation is evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine whether prosecution is warranted.”

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She added that the ministry takes “enforcement of employment standards very seriously,” and said resources were also dedicated to educating workers and bosses about their rights and duties.

Ozols said he hopes the ministry will continue to beef up enforcement, because the alternative is corrosive.

“It destroys faith in the government,” he said. “And people genuinely want to believe that they’re going to do what they say they’ll do.”