This regulation sets out special rules regarding the terms and conditions of employment for employees employed in in the provision of land ambulance services or air ambulance services as defined in the Ambulance Act, RSO 1990, c A.19. Currently, the regulation’s scope is limited to hours free from work and eating periods.

Section 1 — Definitions

O Reg 491/06 came into effect on October 20, 2006.

Defined industry

Section 1 defines the industry to which O Reg 491/06 applies to mean the industry of providing land or air ambulance services as defined in the Ambulance Act, RSO 1990, c A.19.

"Land ambulance services" and "air ambulance services" as defined in s. 1 of the Ambulance Act includes all services provided by an ambulance service in connection with the transportation of persons by land and air respectively. The definitions would not include a patient transfer service that provides transportation only for medically stable patients not suffering from a trauma or an acute onset of illness that could endanger their life, limb or function.

Emergency medical attendant

Section 1 of the Ambulance Act defines "emergency medical attendant" as a person employed by or a volunteer in an ambulance service who meets the qualifications for an emergency medical attendant as set out in the regulations, but does not include a paramedic or a physician, nurse or other health care provider who attends on a call for an ambulance.

Paramedic

Section 1 of the Ambulance Act defines "paramedic" as a person employed by or a volunteer in an ambulance service who meets the qualifications for an emergency medical attendant as set out in the regulations, and who is authorized to perform one or more controlled medical acts under the authority of a base hospital medical director, but does not include a physician, nurse or other health care provider who attends on a call for an ambulance.

Section 2 — Scope

Section 2 narrows the scope of O Reg 491/06 by restricting its application to unionized employees who work as emergency medical attendants or paramedics as defined in the Ambulance Act, RSO 1990, c A.19. The regulation does not apply to other employees in the industry such as dispatchers or clerical workers, and would not apply to emergency medical attendants or paramedics who are not represented by a union.

Section 3 — Terms and conditions of employment

Section 3 states that O Reg 491/06 sets out terms and conditions of employment that apply to employers and employees in the defined industry of ambulance services.

Section 4 — Hours free from work

Hours Free From Work — ss. 4(1) & (2)

Section 4(1) of O Reg 491/06 provides that, where the employer and the bargaining agent in the defined industry agree, s. 4(2) applies instead of s. 18(1) of the Employment Standards Act, 2000. Section 18(1) reads as follows:

Under s. 4(2) of O Reg 491/06, the period of at least 11 consecutive hours free from performing work in each day (in s. 18(1) of the Act) is replaced by a period of at least eight consecutive hours free from performing work in each day. See ESA Part VII, s. 18(1) for a discussion of the meaning of "day".

There can be no substitution of s. 4(2) for s. 18(1) of the Act unless the employer and the bargaining agent agree. Agreements to substitute s. 4(2) for s. 18(1) of the Act must be in writing in order to be valid. See ESA Part I, s. 1(3) and s. 1(3.1) for a discussion of the requirements regarding written agreements.

Like s. 18(1) of the Act, which it replaces, the provision for daily rest in s. 4(2) of O Reg 491/06 is an employment standard as defined in s. 1(1) of the Act and cannot be contracted out of or waived (s. 5(1)). The employer and the bargaining agent could not, for example, agree to a daily rest period of six hours.

For a discussion on how the 11-hour daily rest operates, see ESA Part VII, s. 18(1). Substitute "8 hours" for "11 hours" each time it appears in order to understand the operation of the eight-hour daily rest period under s. 4(2) of O Reg 491/06.

Interaction with other hours of work provisions

The requirement in s. 4(2) for at least eight consecutive hours off work in each day operates together with the hours of work provisions in sections 17, 18 and 19 of Part VII of the Act.

1. On-call exception

Section 18(2) of the ESA 2000 sets out an "on-call exception" to s. 18(1) of the Act. This exception also applies if the daily rest period is eight consecutive hours as per s. 4(2) of O Reg 491/06, when it replaces the 11-hour daily rest requirement in s. 18(1) in the defined industry.

Under s. 18(2), the requirement that an employee have at least 11 hours free from performing work in each day (in accordance with s. 18(1) of the Act) or at least eight hours free from performing work in each day (in accordance with s. 4(2) of O Reg 491/06) does not apply to an employee who is on call and is called in during a period he or she would not otherwise have been expected to work. The on-call exception is an exception only to the requirement to provide 11 or eight consecutive hours free from work each day as per s. 18(1) of the Act or s. 4(2) of O Reg 491/06. It does not operate as an exception to any other hours of work provisions.

For a discussion of the on-call exception, see ESA Part VII, s. 18(2). Substitute s. 4(2) of O Reg 491/06 for s. 18(1) of the Act, and substitute eight hours for 11 hours, wherever the references appear.

2. Maximum daily hours

Section 17(1) of the ESA 2000 provides for maximum daily hours of work of eight hours per day or, if there is an established workday that is longer than eight hours, the number of hours in that work day. However, under s. 17(2) of the Act, employers and employees (or bargaining agents) can agree, in writing, that the employee will work up to a specified number of hours in excess of the daily limit. For such an agreement to be valid, s. 17(5) requires that non-unionized employees first be provided with a copy of the Ministry of Labour’s information sheet on hours of work and overtime and that the agreement contains a statement by the employee acknowledging such receipt.

For further details about the maximum daily hours of work, agreements to vary from the maximum daily hours and the requirement to provide the Ministry’s information sheet, see ESA Part VII, s. 17.

3. Maximum weekly hours

Section 17(1) of the ESA 2000 provides for maximum weekly hours of work of 48 hours. In order for hours in excess of 48 hours to be worked, the employer and employee (or bargaining agent) must agree, in writing, that the employee will work up to a specified number of hours in excess of the weekly limit. For such an agreement to be valid, s. 17(5) requires that non-unionized employees first be provided with a copy of the Ministry of Labour's information sheet on hours of work and overtime and that the agreement contains a statement by the employee acknowledging such receipt.

For further details about the maximum weekly hours, agreements to vary from the maximum weekly hours and the requirement to provide the Ministry's information sheet, see ESA Part VII, s. 17. For a discussion of agreements to work in excess of 48 hours per week and the approval of the Director of Employment Standards, see ESA Part VII, ss. 17(3) to 17.3(1).

4. Free from work between shifts

Section 18(3) of the Act requires employers to provide employees with a minimum period free from work of eight hours between successive shifts, with two exceptions. First, an employee may work successive shifts without the eight-hour free period if the total number of hours worked on the successive shifts is 13 or less. Second, the employer and employee (or bargaining agent) can agree, in writing, to forego the eight-hour period entirely or to reduce its length. For a discussion of the interaction of s. 18(3) with the required daily rest in s. 18(1) of the Act, see ESA Part VII, s. 18(3).

Per s. 4 of O Reg 491/06, a bargaining agent and employer in the defined industry could agree in writing to a minimum daily rest of 8 eight hours (instead of the 11 hours in s. 18(1) of the Act). The bargaining agent could then agree in writing to work an eight and a 10-hour shift back to back, without any break between them. The agreement in writing would comply with s. 18(3) of the Act, but if it resulted in employees receiving a daily rest of less than eight consecutive hours (per the agreement under s. 4 of O Reg 491/06), the schedule would be in violation of O Reg 491/06 and, therefore, would not be permitted. In other words, the bargaining agent in the defined industry cannot agree to have employees work hours under s. 18(3) of the Act that would result in the employee getting less than the eight consecutive hours free from work each day stipulated in s. 4(2) of O Reg 390/05.

5. Weekly/bi-weekly rest periods

Section 18(4) of the ESA 2000 establishes weekly or bi-weekly free time requirements for employees. The free time periods must be at least either 24 consecutive hours in every "work week" or 48 consecutive hours in every two consecutive "work weeks".

See ESA Part VII, s. 18(4) for a discussion of the weekly/bi-weekly rest period provisions.

6. Exceptional circumstances

Section 19 of the ESA 2000 allows employers to require employees to work more daily or weekly hours than are permitted under s. 17 of the Act, or to work during a free period (daily, in between shifts and weekly or bi-weekly) as required by s. 18 of the Act (and s. 4(2) of O Reg 491/06) in any of the specified circumstances, but only so far as is necessary to avoid serious interference with the ordinary working of the employer’s establishment or operations.

For a discussion of the exceptional circumstances, see ESA Part VII, s. 19.

Section 5 — Eating periods

Section 5 of O Reg 491/06 provides that s. 20 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 does not apply in certain circumstances. Section 20 of the ESA 2000 states:

Under s. 20, an employer is required to provide an eating period of at least 30 minutes, timed so that no employee works longer than five consecutive hours without receiving an eating period, or, if the employer and employee agree (not necessarily in writing), two eating periods that together total at least 30 minutes within the same period of five consecutive hours.

Section 5(1) of O Reg 491/06 provides that the requirement under s. 20 of the ESA 2000 does not apply if the employer and bargaining agent agree in writing to a term that addresses the employees’ entitlements to an eating period in one of the ways described in s. 5(2).