Ontario’s legislature voted unanimously in favour of a new worker protection bill on Thursday, after it was amended to include two key concessions to workers’ rights advocates.

Bill 18 will now become law pending Royal Assent — almost a year after being first introduced.

Campaigners welcomed two changes in particular to the bill, one affecting temporary workers, the other workers who want to launch a wage theft claims.

The first affects Ontario’s 133,000 temporary workers, many of whom find work through temporary employment agencies. Previously, these agencies were responsible for upholding all temporary workers’ rights under the Employment Standards Act, including hours, sick days, pay and termination.

Yet agencies often have little contact with temp workers once they are hired by client companies, leading many temporary employees to feel unsure about whom they should turn to when there are abuses.

Campaigners argue that companies often use temp agency hires to evade the costs and responsibilities of elements such as payroll and workplace health and safety.

Originally, Bill 18 aimed to address that situation by making both companies and temp agencies responsible for a temporary worker’s wages and overtime pay.

However, rights advocates argued last week for expanding what’s covered under that joint responsibility. The bill was subsequently amended to include public holiday pay and premium pay as areas for which both will be responsible.

Temporary workers with grievances related to those areas, as well as wages and overtime, can now seek help from both their current employer and their temp agency.

Deena Ladd, of the Worker’s Action Centre, said the amendment was “an important step forward.”

“I think it’s really critical that we’re seeing this kind of action to start to curb the kind of abuses that we’re seeing out there,” Ladd said.

The second change affects all Ontario workers. Campaigners successfully lobbied MPPs to halve a proposed six-month grace period for wage theft claims of over $10,000. Workers will now be able to bring forward claims after a three-month transition period.

The government said some delay in implementation was necessary to train employers and inspectors about the new rules.

Claims used to be subject to a $10,000 cap and could not be older than six months. Under the new law, workers will be able to file claims that date back two years, and there will be no financial limit.

Susan McIsaac, the president and CEO of United Way Toronto, said the legislation comes at “a significant time.”

“Research shows that almost half of all jobs in our region are now precarious: part-time, temporary, or contract work. Better protection for these workers will make people and their families more stable and secure — and will promote greater economic stability for all Ontarians,” she said.

McMaster University professor Wayne Lewchuk, who has conducted extensive research on precarious work in Ontario, praised Bill 18 for being “a very bold piece of legislation.”

In a note of caution, he added: “It’s not going to resolve the difficult position temp agency workers find themselves in. They’re still vulnerable. So it’s real progress — I think the Liberals should be applauded for that — but there’s still a lot of work to do.”

Some of Bill 18’s other key measures include:

Tying future minimum wage increases to the Consumer Price Index for Ontario, which will be announced in April of each year and come into effect on Oct.1.

Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety Act coverage for co-op students and unpaid interns.

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Expanding the Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act to apply to all migrant workers in Ontario, rather than just live-in caregivers.

As he introduced Bill 18 for its final reading on Wednesday, Labour Minister Kevin Flynn told parliamentarians the legislation responds to “key recommendations and recent reports from our stakeholders.”

“We can and we will build our economy. At the same time, though, this bill enables us to work together to protect the most vulnerable in our society,” he said.