The Ontario Labour Relations Board has rescinded an order to pay wages, vacation pay, and holiday pay to a worker who was an independent contractor and not an employee.
It’s important for employers to carefully consider whether they’re engaging a worker as an independent contractor or an employee from the outset of the relationship, and continue that assessment throughout the relationship in case circumstances change, says Ozlem Yucel, an employment lawyer and partner at Turnpenney Milne in Toronto.
“The employer should only be characterizing the relationship as one of an independent contractor if the facts of the relationship actually support that designation,” says Yucel.