The province of Ontario's push to streamline the labour complaints process is being criticized as a move that will punish some workers who feel they have been wronged.

The province's Open for Business Act, also called Bill 68, was introduced in May with the intention of boosting investment in Ontario in part by making the interaction between government and business more efficient.

Among the act's more controversial measures is a requirement for most people who feel their employers might have violated provincial labour laws to first confront their bosses before going to the province.

Raul Aguilera, who worked a construction job in British Columbia where similar rules are in place, said he was put in a "very difficult" situation after claiming his employer owed him unpaid wages.

"I went to the employer and he refused to pay me, and pushed me. I felt very frustrated and humiliated," Aguilera said.

An Ontario legislature committee held a public hearing Tuesday in Toronto to listen to the concerns of those who will be affected by the changes.

"If workers even are aware their rights are being violated, approaching their employer will be very problematic. We think that people will be scared," Diego Mendez of the Service Employees International Union told CBC News as he attended the hearing.

"The government is saying that they will provide for automatic exemptions where they don't have to approach their employer. However, we think that a lot of people will — as soon as they see that having to approach their employer as a part of the process — they'll shy away from it."

Satinder Chera, the vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, welcomed the government's move to reduce the paperwork required for complying with regulations.

"The cost, complexity and the sheer volume of them has been and continues to be a major challenge to small businesses," he said. "And so one of the comments we've made to the government is you've got to reduce the administrative costs and the sheer volume associated, because there's just way too many of them."

The Labour Ministry is hoping to eliminate a backlog of 14,000 workers' complaints in two years, in part by introducing the new rules.