O. Reg. 70/00: BENEFIT PLANS

 

ONTARIO REGULATION 70/00

made under the

Employment Standards Act

Made: February 2, 2000
Filed: February 7, 2000

Amending Reg. 321 of R.R.O. 1990

(Benefit Plans)

1. (1) The definition of “dependant” in section 1 of Regulation 321 of the Revised Regulations of Ontario, 1990 is revoked and the following substituted:

“dependant” means a dependant as defined in the pension, life insurance, disability insurance or benefit, or health insurance or benefit plan, fund or arrangement provided, furnished or offered by an employer to an employee and “dependent child”, “dependent spouse” and “dependent same–sex partner” have a corresponding meaning;

(2) The definition of “health insurance or benefit plan” in section 1 of the Regulation is amended by striking out “an employee, a spouse or dependant” and substituting “an employee, a spouse, a same–sex partner or a dependant”.

(3) The definition of “pension plan” in section 1 of the Regulation is amended by striking out “benefits to a spouse or dependant” and substituting “benefits to a spouse, same–sex partner or dependant”.

(4) Section 1 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following definitions:

“same–sex partner” means a same–sex partner as defined in the pension, life insurance, disability insurance or benefit, or health insurance or benefit plan, fund or arrangement provided, furnished or offered by an employer to an employee;

“same–sex partnership status” means the status of living with a person of the same sex as defined in the pension, life insurance, disability insurance or benefit, or health insurance or benefit plan, fund or arrangement provided, furnished or offered by an employer to an employee;

2. Subsection 3 (1) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

(1) The prohibition in subsection 33 (2) of the Act does not apply to,

(a) an increase in benefits payable to an employee under a pension plan that provides for such increased benefits because the employee has a dependent spouse or a dependent same–sex partner;

(b) a differentiation between employees under a pension plan because of marital status or same–sex partnership status if the differentiation is made for the purpose of providing benefits that are payable periodically during the joint lives of an employee who is entitled to the pension and the employee’s spouse or same–sex partner, and thereafter during the life of the survivor of them, as provided in the pension plan; and

(c) a differentiation in the rates of contribution of an employer to a defined benefit or a unit–benefit pension plan that provides an increase in benefits to an employee because of marital status or same–sex partnership status where the rates of contribution of the employer differentiate between employees because of marital status or same–sex partnership status.

3. Clauses 6 (a), (b) and (c) of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:

(a) any benefits under a life insurance plan that are payable periodically to the surviving spouse or same–sex partner of a deceased employee for the life of the surviving spouse or same–sex partner or until,

(i) the surviving spouse becomes a spouse or same–sex partner of another person, or

(ii) the surviving same–sex partner becomes a same–sex partner or spouse of another person,

and for the purpose of this clause, such benefits shall include benefits of less than $25 a month that have been commuted to a lump sum payment;

(b) any benefit under a life insurance plan that is payable to an employee upon the death of the spouse or same–sex partner of the employee; and

(c) a differentiation in the contributions of an employee or an employer to a life insurance plan where such differentiation between employees is because of marital status or same–sex partnership status and provides benefits that are payable periodically to the surviving spouse or same–sex partner of an employee.

4. Clauses 9 (c) and (d) of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:

(c) a differentiation in the benefits under or the contributions of an employee to a health insurance plan because of the marital status or same–sex partnership status of the employee where that differentiation is made in order to provide benefits for a spouse, same–sex partner or dependent child of the employee; and

(d) a differentiation in the rate of contributions of an employer to a health insurance plan, where there are specified premium rates and where that differentiation for employees having marital status or same–sex partnership status and for employees without marital status or same–sex partnership status is on the same proportional basis.

5. This Regulation comes into force on the day section 22 of the Amendments Because of the Supreme Court of Canada Decision in M. v. H. Act, 1999 comes into force.