Contractors will be entitled to statutory holiday pay, minimum wage, and vacation pay, Ed Canning writes.
It is a given that the pandemic had a dramatic impact on the working world for many people. Among those are people who lost their employment and decided to become consultants. They set themselves up as independent contractors, covering their own taxes and simply invoiced their clients on a fee-for-service basis. More than a few of these consultants decided they liked working from home too much, and when the employer demanded a return to the office, they resigned and set up their own consulting businesses.
On Jan. 1, significant changes are coming to the Employment Standards Act which will make many of these people employees overnight. That means they will be entitled to statutory holiday pay, minimum wage, vacation pay and all the other bells and whistles that come with the Employment Standards Act and employee status. Employers will be required to make normal employee deductions and government remittances for these individuals.
These changes do not apply to everyone but do apply to many. They cover “business consultants” and “information technology” consultants. A business consultant is defined as someone who provides advice or services in respect of operations, profitability, management, structure, processes, finances, accounting, procurement, human resources, environmental impacts, marketing, risk management, compliance or strategy.
That definition is broad and it is hard to think of someone it would not cover who works as a consultant. Information technology consultants are defined as people who provide advice or services in respect of IT systems including advice about planning, designing, analyzing, documenting, configuring, developing, testing and installing IT systems.
These fee-for-service consulting arrangements are usually mutually agreed upon and are attractive to both the company and the contractor. Before everyone panics, however, there

are some exceptions. If the contractor charges $60 an hour or more, is incorporated, or is set up as a sole proprietor with a registered name and has a written consultancy agreement they do not become employees. They must tick all three boxes. Getting a consultancy agreement is fairly straightforward but getting incorporated takes a little bit more time and effort and usually involves hiring a lawyer. An alternative to being incorporated is that the individual can set up a sole proprietorship and have a business name registered under the Business Names Act. That is probably the cheaper route to go.
I strongly suspect that most consultants charge $60 an hour or more, but if a company is paying less and doesn’t want to jack up the hourly rate, it might as well face the music and make the consultant an employee. Have an employment agreement drafted recognizing their previous services and start making deductions.
For employers, failing to put their house in order can have drastic consequences. Everything goes along swimmingly until it does not. For instance, if a consultant is terminated or gets ill or needs parental leave and wants to collect employment insurance. If they apply, EI Service Canada does an assessment to see if they were in fact an employee. If it is found that they were, it orders the employer to remit the CPP and EI deductions it should have made for the employee plus the portion it should have deducted from the employee. The employer can end up on the hook for the taxes that should have been deducted, although that is not usually the case.
If the employer files a complaint with the Ministry of Labour, it would include unpaid vacation pay and statutory holiday pay going back, likely, two years. For employers, it is simply not worth the sleepless nights waiting for this to happen. Fix it now.
www.samigration.com V.4598

One of the highlighted topics: Critical Skills Visa.

- Key Insight: Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast track to working in South Afr...
- This matter relates to critical skills visa and its broader implications.
- Individuals are advised to seek professional guidance.

Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast trac V.6139
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One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, became a victim of identity theft in 2012 when fraudulent transactions occurred, using her personal details.

-The Pretoria High Court found that the department of home affairs had violated constitutional rights without due process.
-Only half of Lawyers for Human Rights` test group has been unblocked, while 385 000 identities remain blocked nationwide.
-LHR appeals extension, urges affected people to seek help now.

Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) are intensifying pressure on the department of home affairs over the national ID-blocking crisis, accusing the state of acting too slowly to unblock qualifying individuals despite a landmark court ruling.

In January last year, the Pretoria High Court found that the department`s practice of blocking IDs without due process was unlawful and unconstitutional. One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, a Swati citizen and South African permanent resident since 1998, fell victim to identity theft in 2012 when fraudsters used her personal details.

 V.6133
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6128
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6129
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A Washington state mother and her 6-year-old son have been released after spending more than three weeks in US immigration detention due to a brief trip to Canada and a small paperwork mistake, her attorney told CNN on Saturday.

Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand citizen who has lived legally in the US since she arrived in 2021, was detained at the Blaine, Washington, Customs and Border Protection checkpoint when returning home after dropping her two oldest children off at the Vancouver airport for a flight to visit their grandparents in New Zealand. Shaw, 33, chose the flight out of Vancouver because it was direct and she didn`t want her children to have to navigate a layover alone, her attorney Minda Thorward, told CNN.

 V.6130
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On 22 July 2025, the Gauteng High Court dismissed Sitrusrand Boerdery`s review of the Department of Employment and Labour`s refusal to issue a Working Conditions and Salary Benchmarking Certificate, an essential precondition for obtaining corporate visas under the Immigration Act.

Acting Judge Kekana AJ held that the Department`s decision was lawful, rational and procedurally fair. This judgment illustrates how businesses can - and must - structure their corporate visa applications to meet statutory requirements, and how legal practitioners should prepare robust review challenges when administrative authorities decline to recommend foreign-work permits.

 V.6131
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The United States could forfeit an estimated 9.4 billion dollars in visitor spending over the next three years following the introduction of a new 250 dollars `visa integrity fee,` according to industry groups, who warn the policy risks undermining tourism and costing thousands of jobs.
The United States’ decision to introduce a 250 dollars `visa integrity fee` on international visitors has triggered sharp criticism from the global tourism industry, with officials warning that the measure could deter millions of travellers and cost the U.S. economy billions.
The 250dollar `visa integrity fee,` part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed on July 4, 2025, will take effect later this year. According to immigration law firm Envoy Global, it applies to all nonimmigrant visa holders which include students, tourists, temporary workers, and business visitors particularly from African countries. V.6132
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6127
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1. Right to Legal Representation•You have the right to consult with a legal representative.•Contact an immigration practitioner, legal aid clinic, or attorney urgently.•Do not sign any documents without understanding them fully. 2. Section 34 of the Immigration Act•You must be brought to court with 48 hours to confirm arrest but you can remain locked up very long as courts figure out what to do with you •If you`re found to be illegally in South Africa, you may be detained for up to 30 days (extendable by a magistrate) pending deportation.•BUT this cannot happen arbitrarily. You must be informed of your rights, and Home Affairs must follow due process.- becomes a nightmare , you could lose your job , business , place to stay V.6121
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Driving for Bolt, Uber, Mr D, or Checkers Sixty60?If you`re undocumented, you`re risking more than just your income.The Risks if You`re Not Legal: - Vehicle impoundment - Heavy fines - Arrest & deportation - Permanent bans from working in SA V.6122
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