> PROTECTING TEMPORARY WORKERS

Public consultations on how Ontario should update its employment laws close in Toronto on Friday. Here are a few recommendations from the Workers Action Centre on how temp workers could be better protected:

Require companies to pay temps the same wages and benefits as permanent staff in equivalent positions.

Require temporary agencies to tell workers how much they are charging a company per hour for an assignment.

Institute a six-month limit on temporary assignments, after which temps must be directly hired by the company.

Scrap a provision that allows temp agencies to charge companies a fee if they give temps permanent jobs in the first six months of work.

Limit how many workers in a single company can be temporary agency employees (no more than 20 per cent).