Sweet Revenge: Business Ordered to Pay Children Minimum Wage for Selling Chocolates

1. Call Us at (613) 317-4614 Sweet Revenge: Business Ordered to Pay Children Minimum Wage for Selling Chocolates https://www.vwlawyers.ca/

2. Call Us at (613) 317-4614 This week on Twitter, our firm has been examining the minimum wage from a variety of perspectives. Using the hashtag#minimumwageweek, we shared content ranging from videos of famed economists such as Milton Friedman to historical articles on the original debate when Ontario’s minimum wage was first introduced in 1963.In this blog article, we thought it would be fun to look at minimum wage from a slightly different angle. Namely, by considering its practical application and some of its many legal quirks. https://www.vwlawyers.ca/

3. Call Us at (613) 317-4614 The current minimum wage in Ontario is $14 per hour. What far less people know, however, is that this is just the “general minimum wage.” There are in fact several other minimum wages for different categories of workers (such as for students, liquor servers, homeworkers and hunting/fishing guides). Likewise, there are a great many exceptions and exemptions to how the minimum wage applies.Take an odd little case that played out before the Ontario Labour Relations Board (the “OLRB”) back in 2003: Orlov v. Amato. https://www.vwlawyers.ca/

4. Call Us at (613) 317-4614 The Quest for Unpaid Chocolate MoneyNot deterred by this turn of events, Alex and two other children who had gone unpaid banded together and filed complaints for unpaid wages with the Ontario Ministry of Labour. Initially, the children were only partially successful. An Employment Standards Officer (the “Officer”) ordered that they were to be paid the missing commissions which they had claimed but nothing more. https://www.vwlawyers.ca/

5. Call Us at (613) 317-4614 It was at this point that one of the many quirks of the Ontario minimum wage made itself known. The Officer determined that the children were not entitled to minimum wage protection due to an obscure provision in the regulations of the Employment Standards Act, 2000. Namely, the Officer decided that the children were non-office based “salespersons” whom are exempt from minimum wage protection. By contrast, the children were not considered to be “route salespersons,” or non-office salespersons whom are assigned to very specific routes. Route salespersons are an exception to the exception (what fun!) and subject to minimum wage protection.  https://www.vwlawyers.ca/

6. Call Us at (613) 317-4614 Lessons LearnedWhether its ultimate effects are good, bad or indifferent, the minimum wage in Ontario is far more complicated than most of us give it credit. Exceptions within exceptions abound and different categories apply to different workers. But we know one thing for sure – at least in this case, the minimum wage gave three children their day in Court (so to speak) and they came out ahead. Happy #minimumwageweek! https://www.vwlawyers.ca/

7. Call Us at (613) 317-4614 Thank You https://www.vwlawyers.ca/