Bill 17: The Fair and Family-friendly Workplaces Act became law on June 7, 2017, when it received Royal Assent. As noted in our earlier Alert, which set out the highlights of the Bill, the effective dates for each Part of the Act, and for certain sections, are as follows:

  • Part 1, dealing with the Employment Standards Code, except section 44, comes into force on January 1, 2018
     
  • Section 44, dealing with changes to the Employment Standards Code regarding the employment of youths, comes into force upon proclamation
     
  • Section 128, which adds certain entities as essential services providers under the Labour Relations Code, is deemed to have come into force when the Bill received First Reading, which was on May 24, 2017
     
  • Sections 113, 116, 118, 120 and 136, which involve changes to the Labour Relations Code regarding certification, revocation and review of arbitration decisions by the Alberta Labour Relations Board, come into force on September 1, 2017
     
  • Sections 103(b)(iii) and (c), 104 and 145, related to family farms and the definition of when a person is employed on a farm or ranch for the purposes of the Labour Relations Code, come into force on January 1, 2018
     
  • All other sections in Part 2, regarding changes to the Labour Relations Code, are in force as of June 7, 2017

The Bill was amended only slightly before being passed into law. These amendments included the following:

  • An employee returning to work from any of the following leaves must provide at least 1 weeks' written notice of the date he or she intends to return to work – in the original version of the Bill it was 48 hours' notice
     
    • Compassionate care leave
       
    • Death or disappearance of child leave
       
    • Critical illness of child leave
       
    • Long-term illness and injury leave
       
  • A change to the definition of medical certificate to allow for regulations to be made specifying a member of a health profession, other than a physician entitled to practice medicine, who is permitted to sign a medical certificate for the purposes of the Code

Field Law will continue to provide updates as the various coming-into-force dates approach. If you have any questions about the potential impacts of The Fair and Family-friendly Workplaces Act, please contact a member of Field Law's Labour and Employment Group.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.