Ontario Passes Fourth Working For Workers Act – Employers Required To Disclose Use Of AI In Hiring

On March 21, 2024, the Ontario Government announced that it had passed the Working for Workers Four Act, 2024 (the Act), which implements legislative amendments to various employment statutes in Ontario, creating further protections for workers in Ontario and imposing additional responsibilities on employers, such as a requirement for employers to disclose the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the hiring process.

As previously reported by the E-TIPS® Newsletter here, the Act will amend the Employment Standards Act to require Ontario employers to disclose in publicly advertised job postings whether AI is being used in the hiring process to screen, assess or select applicants. The terms “publicly advertised job posting(s)” and “artificial intelligence” are to be defined in forthcoming regulations. Further, employers are required to disclose the compensation range of the advertised position in the job posting and retain copies of all their publicly available job postings for a minimum of three years since the posting was removed.

David Piccini, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development has emphasized the importance of mandating transparency in the use of AI in the hiring process noting that “as the use of artificial intelligence in Ontario skyrockets, [the Ontario] government will continue to take action to ensure workers aren’t excluded from the job market because of technological biases and that their privacy rights are protected.”

The above amendments will come into force on a date to be set by the Lieutenant Governor.

Summary By: Victoria Di Felice