The Ministry of Labour has instructed staff not to initiate any new proactive inspections aimed at preventing wage theft and other employment standards violations, according to an internal memo obtained by the Star — a day after the Progressive Conservative government introduced a bill that will significantly roll back recently enacted labour protections.

The memo, which is signed by the ministry’s acting director of employment standards, Joe Boeswald, says that as of Sept. 3, staff should “not initiate any new inspections.” It also says the ministry will defer inspection and prosecution training for staff who have not yet received it.

Employment standards inspections deal with basic workplace issues such as unpaid wages and overtime. Proactive inspections, which are initiated at the behest of the ministry, are far more effective at recovering unpaid wages, including public holiday pay and overtime, than when individual workers file complaints, according to the ministry’s own data.

Andrew Langille, an employment and labour lawyer with East Toronto Community Legal Services, called the move “very troubling.”

“Inspections are important because they are the backbone of enforcement of the ESA (Employment Standards Act),” he said. “It’s really the only way to detect widespread violations of the minimum social standards other than employees reporting violations themselves.”

According to the memo dated Aug. 30, the move is motivated by a significant backlog of employment standards claims filed by workers — exacerbated by a “discretionary spending freeze and subsequent suspension of recruitment” at the ministry.

In response to questions from the Star, a ministry spokesperson said the “measures taken are temporary and will be re-evaluated as wait times decrease.”

“The Ministry of Labour continues to identify and conduct proactive Health and Safety inspections and other safety initiatives on specific industry sectors to raise awareness and help prevent injuries and fatalities,” spokesperson Janet Deline said in an email. “We also continue to conduct reactive investigations in response to workplace fatalities, critical injuries, work refusals and complaints.”

“Any inspections that are underway will be completed in the normal manner,” she added.

As first reported by the Star, a commitment by the Liberals to double its complement of employment standards inspectors by hiring 175 new staff was iced after the Conservatives were elected in June.

The memo says to deal with increased wait times, inspectors will have to focus on claims and should not initiate any new inspections. The memo does not specify for how long.

Bill 47, introduced in the legislature Tuesday, will repeal other Liberal measures meant to tackle precarious work, including a minimum wage bump, sick days, and equal pay provisions for temporary workers. It also reduces the maximum penalties for employers who break the law.

Responding to worker claims could still require inspectors to visit workplaces, but the memo means all future proactive blitzes — for example, of high-risk sectors like temp agencies — are on hold.

Last year, the government recovered only one-third of the wages owed to individual workers after they filed claims, according to documents obtained by the Star through a Freedom of Information request.

Since 2013, this low recovery rate has resulted in some $28 million in missing wages for workers, according to 2016 research conducted by York University academics Leah Vosko and Eric Tucker and Ryerson sociology professor Andrea Noack, based on ministry data.

The recovery rate when the ministry inspected workplaces was almost 100 per cent.

“There’s a major problem when it comes to detecting infractions for workers who remain in the workplace,” said Langille.

“There’s a fear of reprisal, which is quite a live issue that I see in my practice quite extensively,” he said, adding that workers often have a “poor understanding” of their rights and the claims process.

Vosko and Tucker’s research found that more than 90 per cent of the approximately 15,000 annual employment standards complaints are filed by people who have left or lost their jobs.

The Star has reported extensively on wage theft and other enforcement issues across the province.

A 2016 report by two independent experts commissioned by the Ministry of Labour to review the province’s workplace standards also found that Ontario faces “serious” and extensive problems enforcing basic employment rights.

“We conclude that there is a serious problem with enforcement of (Employment Standards Act) provisions,” the report reads. “While most employers likely comply or try to comply with the ESA, we conclude that there are too many people in too many workplaces who do not receive their basic rights.”

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Ministry blitzes in the past regularly found violations in more than 75 per cent of workplaces inspected.

Langille said underresourcing at the Ministry of Labour has been a systemic problem under successive governments.

“This is an issue that cuts across all governments,” he said. “This is an enduring problem that the ministry has encountered.”

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