Lambton County could add three quarters of million dollars to its budget due to new labour legislation being implemented by the province.
The Liberals are increasing minimum wage beginning in 2018. Workers will receive $14 per hour in 2018 and $15 by 2019.
But the increasing wage is only part of the problem.
An analysis done for Lambton politicians shows items such as on-call pay and new provisions for leaves of absences will increases costs dramatically.
The biggest increases in cost will be in long-term care homes where the new requirements for statutory pay alone will add $200,000 to the budget.
Emergency medical services costs also climb by about $135,000 mostly due to the changes in personal leave.
The county is not alone. Petrolia’s finance department estimates the changes in Bill 148 could cost the town $68,000.
Brooke-Alvinston says its costs could go up over $100,000.