Ontario has passed legislation to ensure that temporary help agency employees are being treated fairly and have better opportunities to move to sustainable employment.

The Employment Standards Amendment Act (Temporary Help Agencies), 2009 passed today and will come into force six months after Royal Assent.

The Act will deliver more fairness for low-income temporary help agency workers by:

• Making sure that they are not unfairly prevented from accessing permanent jobs when employers want to hire them from agencies
• Prohibiting temporary help agencies from charging fees to workers for things such as resume writing and interview preparation
• Guaranteeing that employees have the information they need about their assignments including pay schedules and job descriptions
• Requiring agencies to provide employees with information about their new rights under the Employment Standards Act.

The government will also propose a regulation to ensure that "elect-to-work" employees have the right to notice of termination and severance pay.

Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy is designed to build a stronger economy by creating more opportunity for all low-income families and children.  The strategy sets a goal of reducing child poverty by 25 per cent in 5 years - lifting 90,000 children out of poverty.