Bill 157 explained in plain English
Domestic and Sexual Violence Protection Act, 2017
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
This bill would introduce paid and unpaid leave for employees experiencing domestic or sexual violence and require employers to provide workplace safety information regarding such violence.
Bill 157, the Domestic and Sexual Violence Protection Act, 2017, proposes changes to Ontario's employment and occupational health and safety laws. It would allow employees who have been employed for at least 13 weeks to take paid or unpaid leave if they or their child experience domestic or sexual violence. The bill also requires employers to provide information and instruction to their staff about domestic and sexual violence in the workplace. This bill would come into effect on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Creates a new type of leave, called domestic or sexual violence leave, under the Employment Standards Act, 2000.
- Entitles eligible employees to up to 10 days of paid leave and up to 15 weeks of unpaid leave per calendar year if they or their child experience domestic or sexual violence.
- Specifies purposes for which this leave can be taken, including seeking medical attention, obtaining victim services, counselling, relocating, or seeking legal assistance.
- Requires employees to advise their employer in writing if they wish to take this leave, or as soon as possible if the leave must begin immediately.
- States that this leave is not available if the employee is the perpetrator of the domestic or sexual violence.
- Allows employers to request reasonable evidence of an employee's entitlement to the leave.
- Clarifies that this leave is in addition to other types of leave an employee may be entitled to.
- Amends the Occupational Health and Safety Act to require employers to ensure supervisors and workers receive information and instruction about domestic and sexual violence in the workplace.
- Specifies that the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Employees in Ontario who have been employed for at least 13 consecutive weeks
- Children of employees who experience domestic or sexual violence
- Employers in Ontario
- Supervisors in Ontario
- Employees have the right to up to 10 days of paid leave and up to 15 weeks of unpaid leave per calendar year for reasons related to domestic or sexual violence.
- Employees have the right to take this leave in addition to any other leaves they are entitled to.
- Employees have an obligation to advise their employer in writing about taking this leave.
- Employers have an obligation to provide information and instruction to supervisors and workers about domestic and sexual violence in the workplace.
- Employers have the right to request reasonable evidence of an employee's entitlement to this leave.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Money required to pay employees during paid domestic or sexual violence leave will be paid out of money appropriated for that purpose by the Legislature.
- The bill text does not specify penalties for non-compliance with the proposed changes.
- The bill text does not specify what constitutes 'reasonable evidence' for an employer to request regarding an employee's entitlement to leave.
- The bill does not define 'domestic violence' or 'sexual violence'.
- The bill does not specify penalties for employers who do not comply with the new requirements.
- The bill does not specify what constitutes 'victim services organization' or 'psychological or other professional counselling'.
- The bill refers to 'such other purposes as may be prescribed,' indicating that further regulations may define additional purposes for leave.
Adds a new section (49.6) that provides for domestic or sexual violence leave, including entitlement, length, conditions, and notice requirements for employees. It also specifies that funds for paid leave will come from money appropriated by the Legislature.
Source: Section 1
Adds a new section (32.0.5.1) requiring employers to ensure supervisors and workers receive information and instruction about domestic and sexual violence in the workplace.
Source: Section 2
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced