City of Toronto Finds Impact and its Subcontractor in Violation of City’s Fair Wage Policy
 

  • Company to pay out nearly $20,000 in back wages to workers

  • 15% administration fee is levied against the violating contractor

  • Companies to be tracked in the event of potential disqualification from City contracts
     


Click to DownloadThe Fair Wage Office of the City of Toronto has found Impact Cleaning Services Ltd. (“Impact”) and it’s sub-contractor to be in violation of the city’s Fair Wage Policy. The company was found to be in non-compliance since the city took over the running of Union Station. The amount owed to the workers is $18,095.00. The city will also be charging company and additional 15% administration fee for its violation.
 
This incident is yet another in a series of mounting concerns raised about Impact.
 

Last year, a complaint was filed with the Ministry of Labour detailing how the company had structured its operations in a manner that allowed them to circumvent the law.

The operating structure results in many employees working for less than minimum wage, without the benefits and protections of the Employment Standards

Act, 2000, Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (“WSIA”), and other relevant legislation. It also leaves workers without any of the benefits flowing from the Employment Insurance program or the Canada Pension Plan, as contributions are not being made on behalf of affected employees. The “scheme” also raises concerns about whether Impact is paying their fair share of payroll taxes.
 
Earlier this year, a Statement of Claim was filed on behalf of Impact employee Steven Singer seeking, among other things, the payment of approximately $23,000 of unpaid overtime owed to him by Impact. 
 
In its Statement of Defence Impact admitted that Mr. Singer routinely worked in excess of 44 hours per week for a period of just over 4 years, ending on July 1, 2007.  Impact effectively admitted that Mr. Singer ought to have been paid overtime wages but that because of its belief that as a result of the application of limitations legislation, he no longer has  valid claim for the vast majority of the amount of overtime wages that ought to have been paid to him. 
 
In other words, Impact has essentially admitted the violation of Mr. Singer’s right to overtime pay but has sought to use the passage of time as a means to effectively defeat those rights a second time. 

At the end of May, a complaint was filed on behalf of Mr. Naser-Eldine El-Sanadali, an employee of Impact employed at Redpath Sugar in Toronto.  Mr. El-Sanadali was fired by Impact without notice.  The complaint alleges that Impact was involved in a series of ESA violations, including unpaid wages, overtime pay, vacation pay, and severance pay.  Well over $10,000 in compensation was sought in the complaint. 
 
Last summer a complaint was filed on behalf of Ms. Elda Nava, a former employee of Impact that severed her employment with the company as a result of abusive conduct on the part of her supervisor.  Ms. Nava’s complaint sought over $400 in outstanding wages that Impact had, prior to the complaint, refused to pay.  Eventually, following the filing of the claim, the money was paid to Nava.