A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Because minimum wages increase the cost of labor, companies often try to avoid minimum wage laws by using gig workers, by moving labor to locations with lower or nonexistent minimum wages, or by automating job functions. Minimum wage policies can vary significantly between countries or even within a country, with different regions, sectors, or age groups having their own minimum wage rates. These variations are often influenced by factors such as the cost of living, regional economic conditions, and industry-specific factors.
A full-time job is employment in which workers work a minimum number of hours defined as such by their employer.
The Social Contract Act was a statute passed by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1993 as part of an initiative by the provincial government to mitigate the negative impact of the early 1990s recession and reduce the provincial deficit. Austerity measures included a wage freeze and mandatory unpaid days of leave for qualifying government employees, as well as the establishment of a job security fund. Introduced under the government of Premier Bob Rae, the unpaid days of leave became known colloquially as Rae Days.
Sick leave is paid time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health needs without losing pay. It differs from paid vacation time or time off work to deal with personal matters, because sick leave is intended for health-related purposes. Sick leave can include a mental health day and taking time away from work to go to a scheduled doctor's appointment. Some policies also allow paid sick time to be used to care for sick family members, or to address health and safety needs related to domestic violence or sexual assault. Menstrual leave is another type of time off work for a health-related reason, but it is not always paid.
In the United States, the minimum wage is set by U.S. labor law and a range of state and local laws. The first federal minimum wage was instituted in the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, but later found to be unconstitutional. In 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act established it at 25¢ an hour. Its purchasing power peaked in 1968, at $1.60. In 2009, Congress increased it to $7.25 per hour with the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, and has not increased it since.
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 29 U.S.C. § 203 (FLSA) is a United States labor law that creates the right to a minimum wage, and "time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people work over forty hours a week. It also prohibits employment of minors in "oppressive child labor". It applies to employees engaged in interstate commerce or employed by an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, unless the employer can claim an exemption from coverage. The Act was enacted by the 75th Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938.
The California Labor Code, more formally known as "the Labor Code", is a collection of civil law statutes for the State of California. The code is made up of statutes which govern the general obligations and rights of persons within the jurisdiction of the State of California. The stated goal of the Department of Industrial Relations is to promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment."
The 2008–2009 York University strike was a strike by CUPE Local 3903, the union representing contract professors, teaching assistants, and graduate assistants at York University.
Kristyn Wong-Tam is a Canadian politician who has represented Toronto Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 2022 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP).
Douglas Robert Ford Jr. is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 26th and current premier of Ontario since June 2018 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party since March 2018. He represents the Toronto riding of Etobicoke North in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
Monte Gary McNaughton is a former Canadian politician who served as the minister of labour, immigration, training and skills development in Ontario from June 20, 2019 to September 22, 2023. A Progressive Conservative (PC), McNaughton sat as a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) and represented the riding Lambton—Kent—Middlesex in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since the 2011 provincial election. McNaughton first joined the provincial Cabinet in 2018 as the minister of infrastructure.
The Minimum Wages Act 1948 is an act of parliament concerning Indian labour law that sets the minimum wages that must be paid to skilled and unskilled workers.
Fiona Crean is the first ombudsman of Toronto, Ontario. She was appointed to the position in 2008 and announced she would not be seeking to renew her contract in 2015. In October 2015, it was announced she would be appointed as the first ombudsman of Hydro One.
Italy does not have a national unified labor code. Labor legislation is wide-ranging, with laws, regulations and statutes that bear on labor relations. The Constitution of Italy contains declarations of principle relating to fair payment, maximum working hours, vacation, protection of women and minors, social insurance, illness, disability, industrial diseases and accidents, Freedom of Association and the right to strike. The Workers' Statute of 1970 plays an important role and was modified later on.
The 42nd Legislative Assembly of Ontario was a legislature of the province of Ontario, Canada. The membership was set by the 2018 Ontario general election and sat for two sessions until it was dissolved on May 3, 2022 in advance of the 2022 Ontario general election.
An Act to restore Ontario's competitiveness by amending or repealing certain Acts is a law adopted on April 3, 2019, during the 42nd Parliament of Ontario. Critics of the bill argue that, if passed, it will repeal a number of consumer protections, labour laws, anti-crime rules, clean water rules, child safety rules, and environmental protections in the Province of Ontario. On the other hand, one study showed that there were significant public savings to be had through adoption of the bill: The City of Waterloo saw a 14% drop in the average amount of the winning bid for public construction projects while the city of Toronto, in 2019, could have saved up to $381 million.
Gig workers are independent contractors, online platform workers, contract firm workers, on-call workers, and temporary workers. Gig workers enter into formal agreements with on-demand companies to provide services to the company's clients.
Doug Ford is the 26th and current premier of Ontario, Canada. He won a majority in the 2018 Ontario general election, as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PCPO) caucus in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and was sworn in as premier on June 29, 2018. He was re-elected with an increased majority in the June 2, 2022 Ontario general election.
Beryl Potter was a British-born Canadian disability rights activist. She was involved in many disability rights organizations in Ontario including the Trans-Action Coalition, the Scarborough Recreation Club for Disabled Adults, the Ontario Action Awareness Association, and the Coalition on Employment Equity for Persons with Disabilities (CEEPD). Potter was a triple amputee and was blind in one eye as a result of complications due to a fall at work.
Ritika Goel is a Toronto-based Canadian writer, activist, professor, and family doctor known for public advocacy on social justice matters.
