3114-99-ES 658778 Ontario Limited, Applicant v. Angie Mills and Ministry of Labour, Responding Parties.
Employment Practices Branch File No. 62004201
BEFORE: John Morgan Lewis, Vice‑Chair.
DECISION OF THE BOARD; April 3, 2000
This is an application to review Order to Pay No. 57979 issued by an Employment Standards Officer pursuant to section 68 of the Employment Standards Act, 1990 R.S.O. 1990, c. E.14, as amended (the “Act”).
The Order to Pay is dated December 12, 1999. On January 18, 2000 the Board received correspondence from the applicant in which it purported to apply for review under the Act. The Registrar of the Board advised the applicant by letter dated January 24, 2000, that the Board could not process the appeal as it did not conform with Rule 24 of the Board’s Rules of Procedures which requires an appeal to be filed on Form A-69. The Registrar provided the applicant with a copy of Form A-69 and advised that if the Board did not receive a properly completed Form A-69 within 20 working days of its letter, the proceeding would be terminated. On February 3, 2000 the applicant filed a properly completed Form A-69 in compliance with the Registrar’s correspondence dated January 24, 2000.
The applicant submitted payment of the amount stipulated in the Order to Pay to the Director of Employment Standards on January 27, 2000 and a receipt was issued on January 28, 2000. It has been brought to the Board’s attention that despite the aforementioned payment, the Ministry of Labour initiated collection proceedings resulting in the applicant submitting payment of the amount stipulated in the Order to Pay. In essence, the applicant has paid the Ministry of Labour twice.
Section 68(3) of the Act requires that an application for review of an order must be made within 45 days after the date of the order. The Board received Form A-69 on February 3, 2000. Pursuant to section 68(3) of the Act, the application is untimely. Section 68(4) of the Act permits the Board to extend the review if it considers it advisable to do so. The Board is prepared to treat the applicant’s correspondence, which was received by the Board on January 18, 2000 as an application for review. The 45th day from the Order to Pay falls on January 17, 2000 so the applicant is still one day late in filing for review. Given the relatively short period of time in which the application is untimely, however, none of the parties are unduly prejudiced by the delay. The Board also notes that the applicant responded promptly when advised that it had not complied with the proper filing requirements for the application. In the circumstances, the Board is prepared to exercise its discretion to extend the time for the filing of the application for review until February 3, 2000. This matter is referred to the Registrar for processing.
Finally, with respect to the double payment by the applicant, the administration of the collection of monies payable pursuant to an Order to Pay is the responsibility of the Ministry of Labour. Should the applicant seek reimbursement, it should direct its inquiries to officials of the Ministry of Labour.
“John Morgan Lewis”
for the Board