#1 You have no regular pay period and pay day
- You must have a regular pay period and a regular pay day.
- A pay period is a stretch of time where you work and your hours are tracked. Your pay period should stay the same each time, for example:
weekly every 7 days, biweekly every 14 days, or monthly. - Pay days are the specific dates when you get paid.
- Bad bosses will try to make excuses to delay your payments. They might say something like:
“I cannot pay you because my client has not paid me yet.”
“We cannot do payroll this week because our accountant is on vacation.” - But it does not matter what they say. You must be paid fully, on time and receive a pay stub which shows all the details of your wages (deductions, Employment Insurance, etc.)
- If you are not getting paid with a regular pay period, it’s very important for you to keep accurate written records of when you worked, how much you got paid, and when you were paid.
#2 You are not sure who your employer is
- Bad bosses will purposely make it confusing for you to know who is legally responsible for paying you.
- For example, they might send you to work at the office of Company A. Then when you get paid, your cheques come from Company B. But you are supervised daily by someone from Company C!
- This complicated structure (allowed by our labour laws) lets bad bosses distance themselves from responsibility for paying you properly. They might tell you:
“You do not work for us, you work for 12345 Ontario Inc.”
“You were hired by a subcontractor. We already paid the subcontractor. Go talk to them.” - If you are not sure who your employer is, start collecting proof of who pays you and who you work for. For example:
What is the name and address on e-Transfers and paycheques?
What are the names, job titles and contact information of the people who supervise you every day?
Keep a record of all the addresses where you are sent to work. - If you have the right evidence, you may be able to show which companies are jointly responsible so your boss cannot shift the blame.
- Our weak labour laws are the cause of why so many of us have a hard time making the real employers held accountable.
#3 You receive tips at work, but your tips never add up and your employer refuses to tell you why
- Employers cannot deduct from your tips if you spill or damage something, or if a customer does not pay their bill.
- However, employers can deduct from your tips to contribute to a “tip pool.” They get to decide how much workers must contribute, who gets to participate in the tip pool, and when the pool is paid out.
- The problem is: Ontario’s labour laws do not adequately protect workers’ tips. The Ontario Ministry of Labour:
- Does not require employers to provide workers with a detailed written statement of their tips.
- Does not enforce the terms of tip pool policies. For example, if you were supposed to receive 5% of the tip pool but receive only 3%, the Ministry will not do anything.
- Does not always require tip pool policies to be public. They only require a written public tip pool policy if the employer, director or shareholders share in the tip pool.
- Does not require employers to provide workers with a detailed written statement of their tips.
- This makes it difficult to find out if your boss is stealing your tips and whether you can fight back against this.
- If you are worried that your tips are being stolen, you might not be the only one. Ask coworkers that you trust and see if their tips are adding up. If you and your coworkers want to do something, reach out to the Workers’ Action Centre and we can help you figure out what to do.
We need to change our labour laws to make sure all of us are protected on the job! Get involved in the Stop Wage Theft campaign so we can collectively fight for stronger tip legislation and worker protections!