British Columbia

The recently-passed Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2024 means that BC’s minimum wage will automatically increase June 1 of every year. The increases are tied to the consumer price index. On June 1, 2024, the minimum wage increases from $16.75 to $17.40 per hour.

There are some exceptions, such as wages for agricultural piece workers.

Ontario

On March 21, Bill 149, Working for Workers Four Act, 2024 received Royal Assent. The Bill comes into effect in stages: some are immediate, some as of June 21, 2024, and at a later date still to be determined.

Immediate changes:

• The definition of “employee” is amended so that work during a “trial period” is “training” – this means the trainee must be paid. It effectively eliminates unpaid trial shifts.
• Employers can’t deduct wages where there’s a loss because a customer left without paying at restaurants, gas stations or other specific establishments.

Changes effective June 21, 2024:

• Tips must be paid as required by the Regulations.
• The employee must agree in writing if vacation pay is to be paid in any other way than a lump sum before their vacation; in other words, the employer cannot unilaterally decide on a different method than lump sum.

Changes effective at a later date, still to be determined:

• Pay transparency – employers will have to disclose a range of expected compensation in publicly advertised job postings.
• AI disclosure – employers will have to disclose AI use when hiring for publicly advertised job postings
• No Canadian experience requirement – employers cannot require Canadian experience in publicly advertised job postings
• Record keeping – employers must keep records (copies) of publicly advertised job postings for three years

There are some additional sections that address specific issues like cancer coverage for firefighters and qualifying for the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program.

PEI

On April 1, 2024, minimum wage in PEI increased to $15.40 per hour and will increase again to $16 per hour on October 1, 2024.

Bill 106, An Act to Amend the Employment Standards Act, which received Royal Assent on November 29, 2023 and will come into effect on October 1, 2024, creates a new paid sick leave. Employees are entitled to:

• One day paid sick leave after 12 months continuous employment;
• Two paid sick days after 24 months continuous employment; or
• Three paid sick days after 35 months continuous employment.

If unused, these sick days cannot be carried over to the next calendar year, and employers can require medical certificates from employees who take three consecutive days of sick leave.

Federal

Effective as of February 1, 2024, federally regulated employers must provide longer notice periods when terminating employees under Canada Labour Code amendments.

The notice periods are as follows:

• Three months continuous employment = 2 weeks notice
• Three years continuous employment = 3 weeks notice
• Four years continuous employment = 4 weeks notice
• Five years continuous employment = 5 weeks notice
• Six years continuous employment = 6 weeks notice
• Seven years continuous employment =7 weeks notice
• Eight+ years continuous employment = 8 weeks notice

The notice periods do not apply if the termination is for cause.

Employers must provide a written statement of benefits upon dismissal that sets out vacation benefits, wages, severance, and any other benefits and pay earned through their employment.

The post Employment Law Updates appeared first on CCCC Blogs.

When?

There are two intake periods: the first opened late April 2022 and the second will open August 2022. Applications are accepted until the funding is fully allotted or all eligible applications are funded, whichever is first.

How Much?

You can apply for up to $10,000 per employee, up to a maximum of $100,000. You’ll have to make sure you have a job available for the trainee after successful completion of the training. If you have 100 or fewer employees, the grant will cover up to 75% of eligible training fees; for those with 101 or more employees, it will cover up to 50%.

What Training?

Eligible training fees include tuition, student fees, materials (textbooks, software, etc.), exam fees, and certain travel costs. The training has to be delivered by a third party external to the employer. The training must be necessary to equip your employees with new skills or knowledge to meet organizational goals. You can apply for training that’s already taken place, so long as it took place in the same fiscal year of your application. The fiscal year for Job Grant purposes is April 1 – March 31.

Who is Eligible?

Non-profits are eligible to apply. Schools and post-secondary institutions that receive provincial and/or federal funding are not eligible. If you’ve received three of these job grants over the past five years, you’re also not eligible. And – of course – you have to meet all of the eligibility criteria!

Trainees must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents and who work in Manitoba. They could be full-time, part-time or seasonally employed.

Application Questions?

The application is an Excel spreadsheet that you have to complete. There’s the usual identifying contact information, which includes a drop-down menu for “sector”. There’s no option for non-profit or charity, so you’ll have to find the next most applicable category or you might need to use the “other” category.

You’ll need to include a general description of your organization, select whether your training program is related to COVID-19 and if not, briefly explain the business/organizational needs that will be met by the training program.

You’ll also need to provide some details about the training plan, including:

• Course name
• Type of training
• Skills to be learned
• Name of training organization
• Number of training participants
• Total course cost
• Start and end dates
• Credential/certificate earned
• Training participant name

Want More?

Here are the key links for Manitoba employers interested in applying:
Canada-Manitoba Job Grant Application

Canada-Manitoba Job Grant – Employer Fact Sheet

Canada-Manitoba Job Grant – Frequently Asked Questions

Canada-Manitoba Job Grant – News Release

The post Canada-Manitoba Job Grant for Employee Training appeared first on CCCC Blogs.

British Columbia

Five Paid Sick Days

Effective January 1, 2022 employees covered by the Employment Standards Act in British Columbia are entitled to 5 paid sick days. This change was made by Bill 13, the Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2021 which was passed in April 2021.

After 90 consecutive days of employment an employee is entitled to paid leave for up to the number of days prescribed. That number is currently 5. Employees are still entitled to up to 3 days of unpaid leave for personal illness or injury. That means eligible employees get 5 paid days and 3 unpaid days of leave for illness or injury.

This is different from the COVID-19 Paid Sick-Leave Reimbursement Program. That program ended December 31, 2021 but employers have until January 17, 2022 to submit any remaining requests.

For more, you can check BC’s Paid Sick Leave page.

Return of COVID-19 Safety Plans

Last June, BC directed employers to implement Communicable Disease Prevention Plans rather than COVID-19-specific plans. As of January 7, 2022, BC has ordered employers to return to COVID-19 Safety Plans.

For more on how to make sure your re-introduced COVID-19 Safety Plan aligns with all the changes in guidance and orders, see WorkSafeBC.

Alberta

Health & Safety Legislation

Changes to Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act came into effect in December 2021. In case you missed them, here is a summary of a few key changes.

These updates were made by Bill 47, Ensuring Safety and Cutting Red Tape Act, 2020.  Key changes include:

• Worker count to determine whether an employer must have a health and safety (H&S) committee or representative no longer includes volunteers (Part 2)
  • Note: the thresholds of 20+ workers for a committee and 5-19 workers for a representative remain the same
• More flexibility for employers over content of training requirements for H&S committees or representatives, removing mandatory elements
• Dangerous work refusals – the terminology around the right to refuse dangerous work has changed from refusing a “dangerous condition at the work site” to refusing work if there is an “undue hazard” which means a “hazard that poses a serious and immediate threat to the health and safety of a person” (Part 3)
• Adding serious “illnesses” to injuries and incidents for reporting purposes (Part 7)

For more, you can watch Alberta’s Change highlights: the 2020 Occupational Health and Safety Act. It provides an overview of the updates that took effect in December 2021. You can also check out the Occupational Health and Safety Resource Portal and Alberta’s summary document, Changes to OHS Laws (December 2021).

Saskatchewan

Proposed Legislation for Paid Sick Days

Private Members’ Bill 606, The Saskatchewan Employment (Paid Sick Days) Amendment Act, 2021 proposes to give employees 10 paid sick days per year, or 14 paid sick days per year during a state of emergency related to a communicable disease.

The bill was introduced by an opposition party member on November 15, 2021 and has passed first reading. It must also pass second reading, third reading, and be given Royal Assent to be effective.

Amendments to The Saskatchewan Employment Act

There are a few changes to the Saskatchewan Employment Act that were effective January 1, 2022. These changes come from Bill 60, The Saskatchewan Employment Amendment Act, 2021 which was given Royal Assent in November, 2021.

The three key changes are:

• Definition of harassment expanded to specifically include conduct, comment, display, action or gesture by a person that is of a sexual nature and is unwelcome. Instead of listing grounds in the Human Rights Code, they are incorporated by reference along with physical size or weight.
  • Note: Independent contractors, students and volunteers are included in the definition of workers who are protected from harassment
• COVID-19 liability protection for employers who made good faith efforts to act in accordance with specified COVID-19 regulations
• Supervisors can participate in a union, either with those they supervise or in a separate bargaining unit

Ontario

No to Non-Competes and Yes to Disconnecting

Bill 27, the Working for Workers Act received Royal Assent in December 2021. It made several employment related amendments with different effective dates.

• Right to disconnect, effective January 1, 2022 – amends the Employment Standards Act, 2000
  • Employers with 25 or more employees on January 1 of any year must, by March of that year, have a written policy on disconnecting from work.
  • Note: employers who meet the 25+ threshold as of January 1, 2022 have until June 2, 2022 to have a written policy in place
  • Note: With this new legislation, there is a lack of clarity around the requirements of this policy: there is no mandatory content, no indication of consequences for a breach, and no clarity as to whom it actually applies and under what circumstances.

For a sample “Right to Disconnect” policy, CCCC members can log in to The Green.

• Non-compete agreements are generally prohibited, effective October 25, 2021 – amends the Employment Standards Act, 2000
  • Does not apply to agreements made before October 25, 2021
  • It does not apply to executives (CEO, president, any chief executive position (operating, financial, information, legal, human resource, corporate development, etc.))
  • It does not apply to the sale of a business
• Washroom access, not yet proclaimed – the Occupational Health and Safety Act now requires workplace owners to provide washroom access for delivery service providers when they are on site for a drop off or pickup, subject to reasonable limits

Proposed Legislation for Job Protection

Private Members’ Bill 6, Jobs and Jabs Act, 2021 proposes to amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 to prohibit employers from intimidating, dismissing, placing on leave or penalizing an employee based on the employee’s vaccination status. It also requires an employee be reinstated if the employer has violated the prohibition.

The bill was introduced by an independent MPP on October 5, 2021 and has passed first reading. It must also pass second reading, third reading, and be given Royal Assent to be effective.

Proposed Legislation for Paid Sick Days

Private Members’ Bill 7, 10 Paid Sick Days for Ontario Workers Act, 2021 proposes to amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 to provide up to 10 paid days of personal emergency leave for personal illness, injury or medical emergency for a worker or worker’s family member. It would also extend the existing infectious disease emergency leave from 3 paid days to 10.

This bill was introduced by an opposition MPP on October 5, 2021 and has passed first reading. It must also pass second reading, third reading, and be given Royal Assent to be effective.

Note: Ontario’s COVID-19 worker income benefit has been extended to July 31, 2022. This benefit requires employees to provide up to three days of paid infectious disease emergency leave for certain reasons related to COVID-19.

Federal

10 Paid Sick Days

Bill C-3, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Labour Code received Royal Assent in December 2021. It will amend the Canada Labour Code to provide that employees can earn and take up to 10 days of paid sick days per calendar year.

• After 30 days of continuous employment, the employee earns 3 paid sick days
• After 60 days of continuous employment, the employee will earn one paid sick day per month of continuous employment, up to a maximum of 10 per year

The amendments will come into force on a day set by order of the Governor in Council (cabinet, signed by the Governor General).

The post Employment Updates appeared first on CCCC Blogs.

To give everyone an opportunity to vote, the Canada Elections Act (CEA) requires that eligible voters have three consecutive hours to cast their vote on election day (s.132(1) CEA).

Three Hour Window to Vote

This means employers must make sure work hours allow employees a three hour window to vote.

If an employee’s hours of work don’t give a three-hour window, the employer must give the necessary time off to create a three-hour window. There is a narrow exception for transportation companies (s 132(3)).

Employers can choose when the time off will be given.

How It Works

Not sure if you need to give your employees time off? Three simple questions will help you figure it out:

1. What are the voting hours in your employee’s riding?
2. What are your employee’s work hours?
3. Do the work hours allow a 3-hour window to vote?

If there is already a 3-hour window, employer’s don’t have to give extra time off.

If there is not a 3-hour window, employers do have to give time off to create that 3-hour window.

Examples

Penalties & Fines for Employer Non-Compliance

Employers cannot deduct pay or impose any penalty on an employee for time off given to vote.

Employers who fail to provide time off, deduct pay, or impose penalties can be prosecuted (s 489(1)(a)). Punishment is a maximum fine of $2,000 and/or three months in prison (s 500(1)).

Need More Info?

If you need more information about ridings (maps, polling stations), voting hours, and candidate lists, check Elections Canada where all of the official elections info can be found.

The post 2021 Federal Election: Time Off to Vote appeared first on CCCC Blogs.

Federal Pay Equity Act

The federal Pay Equity Act comes into force August 31, 2021. That means federally-regulated employers with 10 or more employees must have a pay equity policy in place within 3 years.

The Pay Equity Act was passed in 2018. Its goal is to ensure men and women receive equal pay for work of equal value.

EMPLOYER OBLIGATIONS

The Act will require employers to do a wide variety of things, including:

• Establish a pay equity plan within 3 years; the plan must identify the number of employees, job classes, gender predominance within the classes, compensation, set out information on dispute resolutions, compare compensation between female- and male-dominated classes of similar value, etc.
• Review and update pay equity plans at least once every 5 years
• Post notices on pay equity obligations
• Report on whether milestones are achieved
• Establish a pay equity committee (if 100+ employees)
• Receive employee comments on the plan before finalizing it
• Submit annual statements to Pay Equity Commissioner

ENFORCEMENT & ORDERS

As part of the Act’s enforcement, an appointed Federal Pay Equity Commissioner will work within the Canadian Human Rights Commission as part of the Pay Equity Unit. The Pay Equity Commissioner will

• Help people understand their rights and obligations
• Conduct audits
• Issuing binding orders to settle disputes
• Receive complaints
• Facilitate dispute resolution
• Publish research on pay equity issues

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Employment and Social Development Canada

• Backgrounder: On the Pay Equity Act (7 July 2021)
• Overview of the Pay Equity Act (2 March 2021)
• Pay Equity Consultations – What We Heard Report (23 February 2021; original report September 2018)
• News Release (18 September 2020)
• Backgrounder: Proactive Pay Equity (14 December 2018)

Service Canada

• Process for Updating a Pay Equity Plan (7 December 2020)
• List of federally regulated industries and workplaces (5 March 2021)

Bereavement Leave under the Canada Labour Code

Bill C-220, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (bereavement leave) (“Act”)received Royal Assent on June 29, 2021 and comes into effect September 29, 2021.

Under the Canada Labour Code (“Code”), employees are entitled to take up to 5 days of bereavement leave if an immediate family member dies. If the employee has worked for 3 months, the first 3 days of leave are paid.

The Act extends the length of leave to 10 days. The number of paid days remains at 3.

For the purposes of the current bereavement leave (s.210(1) of the Code), “immediate family” means:

• Spouse or common law partner
• Mother, father and spouse or common law partner of mother or father
• Children
• Children of the spouse or common law partner
• Grandchildren
• Brothers and sisters
• Grandparents
• Mother-in-law, father-in-law, and their spouses or common law partners
• Relative who permanently resides with employee

The bill also expands bereavement leave for employees who are on compassionate care leave or critical illness leave if the family member being cared for dies.

For compassionate care leave (206.3(1)) and critical illness leave (206.4(1)), family member is defined the same way as under the Employment Insurance Act regulations. It is broader than “immediate family member” and includes aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, current or former foster children, current or former wards, guardians, and a person “whom the individual considers to be like a close relative.”

Leave must be taken in a period beginning on the day of death and ending within six weeks of the latest date of any funeral, burial or memorial service.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Library of Parliament, Legislative Summary of Bill C-220: An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (bereavement leave), Mayra Perez-Leclerc, Publication No. 43-2-C220-E (Ottawa: Library of Parliament, 16 March 2021)

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