Working for Workers Seven (Bill 30) received royal assent on November 27, 2025 and brought several material changes for Ontario employers that took effect January 1, 2026. The headline rule: employers with 25+ employees who use AI to screen, assess, or select applicants must disclose that fact on the public job posting.
The disclosure rule applies to publicly advertised job postings only — not to internal-only postings, executive search, or referral-driven hiring. The threshold is 25 employees in Ontario. The disclosure language is not prescribed in detail but must clearly indicate that AI is used in the screening or assessment of applicants. In practice, most employers are now adding a one-line disclosure block to the bottom of every public posting.
The same Act adds a three-day unpaid job-seeking leave for employees terminated as part of a mass termination, extends the temporary-layoff agreement window (35–52 weeks with director's approval), introduces job-posting platform fraud-prevention obligations (also in force January 1, 2026), and adds an AED requirement on construction projects with 20+ workers. OHSA administrative monetary penalties are also added.
Working for Workers Seven sits on top of a four-year reform sequence that has fundamentally reshaped Ontario's employment regime. Working for Workers 1 (2021) banned non-competition agreements and required employers with 25+ employees to adopt a written Disconnecting from Work policy. Working for Workers 2 (2022) required a written Electronic Monitoring policy and created the Digital Platform Workers' Rights Act, 2022 (in force July 1, 2025). Working for Workers 3 (2023) raised OHSA fines (corporate up to $2M). Working for Workers 4 (2024) laid the foundation for pay-disclosure on job postings. Working for Workers 5 (2024) banned employers from requiring sick notes for the 3-day ESA sick leave. Working for Workers 6 (2024) created a 27-week unpaid Long-Term Illness Leave (in force June 19, 2025).
What this means for an HR or in-house counsel team in 2026: every public job-posting template needs an AI-use disclosure where applicable; every restructuring plan needs to factor in the new job-seeking leave and the extended temporary-layoff window; and every Disconnecting from Work and Electronic Monitoring policy should be reviewed against the broader Working for Workers framework to confirm continued compliance. The Ministry of Labour can audit any of these policies at any time.
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