Stricter rules for temporary help agencies and recruiters
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As of July 1, all temporary help agencies and recruiters need licenses to operate in Ontario. They must renew their licenses every year.
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To get a license, recruiters and temporary help agencies submit a detailed application to the Government of Ontario.
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There's currently a backlog of applications. The government is allowing recruiters and temporary help agencies to operate without a license if they applied for one before July 1. They can continue without a license until the government makes a decision about their application.
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Recruiters
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Recruiters find:
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- jobs for workers, and
- workers for companies who are their clients.
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Recruiters can sometimes charge fees for their services. But they can never charge fees to workers who are foreign nationals.
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The jobs must be in Ontario. But recruiters do not have to be based in Ontario.
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- employees whose job is to find workers, such as human resources specialists
- schools, colleges, and universities looking for jobs for students and graduates
- unions
- registered charities
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As well, people are not recruiters if they have agreements with:
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- municipalities,
- the Government of Ontario, or
- the Government of Canada.
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Temporary help agencies
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Temporary help agencies are businesses that provide their clients with workers for temporary work assignments. These workers are employees of the agency.
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Temporary help agencies usually charge fees to their clients. But the agencies cannot charge fees to their employees for finding them work.
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The jobs must be in Ontario. But temporary help agencies do not have to be based in Ontario.
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Finding out who has a license
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The government has information about all temporary help agencies and recruiters that have applied for licenses.
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This information includes:
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- status of the license
- when a license expires
- contact details and the legal name and operating name of the business
- whether they can operate in Ontario
- names of anyone whose license has been suspended or cancelled
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If a temporary help agency or recruiter is not licensed
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Workers can report recruiters and temporary help agencies that are not licensed to the Ministry of Labour. They can do this by calling the Employment Standards Information Centre at 1-800-531-5551. For TTY, call 1-866-567-8893.
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The Ministry of Labour has employment standards officers who investigate complaints and inspect workplaces.
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Fines
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If a recruiter or temporary help agency does not have a license, an employment standards officer can order them to pay a fine. The fines range from $15,000 to $50,000.
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These fines also apply if a recruiter or temporary help agency gave information in their licensing application that was false or misleading.
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Court
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The Ministry of Labour can also take an unlicensed recruiter or temporary help agency to court. But they rarely do this.
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If they're guilty, the court can order them to pay a fine of $50,000 to $250,000, go to jail, or both.
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The court can also order them to pay money to workers or employers who were affected.
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Employers
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It's against the law for employers to use recruiters or temporary help agencies that they know are not licensed. If they do, an employment standards officer can order them to pay a fine.
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Workers
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There are no penalties for workers who use unlicensed recruiters or who are employees of unlicensed temporary help agencies.
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If the government refuses, cancels or suspends a license
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The law says that recruiters and temporary help agencies must tell employees and clients in writing if the Ministry of Labour:
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- refuses to give them a license, or
- cancels or suspends their license.
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This is called giving notice.
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They must give this notice within 30 days after the date the Ministry of Labour told them their license was refused, cancelled, or suspended.
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The recruiter or temporary help agency can ask the Ontario Labour Relations Board to review the Ministry's decision. If they ask for a review, they must say this in the notice they give to employees and clients.
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They can continue operating while they're waiting for a decision about the review, unless the Labour Relations Board says they cannot.
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Other workers' rights
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If workers have questions about their rights or have problems at work, they can contact:
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Related resources
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