On May 24, 2017, the Alberta Government introduced Bill 17—the Fair and Family-Friendly Workplaces Act. Bill 17 proposes substantive changes to both the Alberta Employment Standards Code (ESC) and Labour Relations Code (LRC).

When Bill 17 is passed:

  • Most revisions to the ESC would come into force on January 1, 2018. Revisions related to youth employment in the ESC would come into force upon proclamation.
  • Most revisions to the LRC would come into force upon proclamation.
  • Certain provisions of the LRC related to certification and revocation applications, as well as review of award procedures, would come into force on September 1, 2017.
  • Certain provisions related to farm employees in the LRC would come into force on January 1, 2018.

A summary of significant proposed changes is provided below.

EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS CODE

Unpaid, Job-Protected Leaves

Employees will be eligible for all unpaid, job-protected leaves after 90 days rather than 1 year.

Compassionate Care Leave

  • Compassionate care leave would be extended to 27 weeks, from the current 8 weeks.
  • An employee would no longer be required to be the primary care giver to seek compassionate care leave.
  • Notice to return to work would be decreased from 2 weeks to 48 hours.

Maternity/Parental Leave

  • Maternity leave would be extended from 15 weeks to 16 weeks.
  • Parental leave would remain at 37 weeks.1

New Leaves of Absences

  • Personal and family responsibility leave: up to 5 days per year.
  • Long-term injury and illness leave: a maximum of 16 weeks in a calendar year and requires a medical certificate.
  • Bereavement leave: up to 3 days for immediate family members.
  • Domestic violence leave: up to 10 days in a calendar year.
  • Citizenship ceremony leave: half a day to attend the citizenship ceremony.
  • Critical illness of a child leave: up to 36 weeks.
  • Death or disappearance of a child leave: up to 52 weeks when a child has disappeared likely as a result of a crime, or up to 104 weeks when a child has died likely as a result of a crime.

Before returning to work after long-term injury and illness leave, critical illness of a child leave, or death or disappearance of a child leave, employees would have to provide 48 hours' notice.

Rest Periods

  • If an employer and employee agree, the 30 minute rest period required for every 5 consecutive hours of work would be able to be taken in two 15 minute periods.

Compressed Work Week Arrangements

  • Compressed work weeks would be replaced with "averaging agreements".
  • Averaging agreements would need to be in writing, between an employer and an employee or group of employees where a majority agrees, and would need to satisfy the criteria outlined in Bill 17.
  • Averaging agreements would allow averaging of an employee's hours over 1 to 12 weeks.
  • Existing compressed work week arrangements would remain valid until the termination of the compressed work week arrangements, or January 1, 2019, whichever is earlier. Compressed work week arrangements that are part of a collective agreement would remain valid until the next collective agreement.

Deductions from Earnings

  • Bill 17 would allow ESC Regulations to clarify when an employer may or may not deduct money from the earnings of an employee. Among other things, Bill 17 would specifically prohibit employers from deducting from earnings amounts for failing to collect cash from a customer.

Overtime

  • Overtime hours would be able to be banked for 6 months, rather than 3 months.
  • Time-off instead of overtime pay would be at 1.5 hours for each hour of overtime, not hour-for-hour.

Vacation and General Holiday Pay

  • Employees would be able to take vacation in half-day increments—no more 1 day minimum.
  • All employees would generally be entitled to general holiday pay.
  • The distinction between a regular work day and a non-regular work day would be removed.
  • If, upon termination, an employee has not taken a holiday to which he or she is entitled to pursuant to the ESC, Bill 17 would clarify how to determine general holiday pay owed to the employee.
  • The calculation of general holiday pay would change to be 5% of an employee's wages, vacation pay and general holiday pay over the previous 4 weeks.

Terminations and Temporary Layoffs

  • Employers would be prohibited from requiring employees to use banked overtime during the termination notice period, unless the employee agrees in writing.
  • Employers would be prohibited from requiring employees to use annual vacation during the termination notice period unless, before the termination notice, the employer had given notice to the employee to use the annual vacation in accordance with the ESC.
  • Timelines for providing group termination notices to employees, unions, and the Minister would be increased as follows:

    • 50 to 99 employees: 8 weeks;
    • 100 to 299 employees: 12 weeks; and
    • 300 employees or more: 16 weeks.
  • For temporary layoffs, employers would have to provide the employee with 1-2 weeks' written layoff notice (depending on the employee's length of service), unless there are unforeseeable circumstances.
  • Temporary layoffs exceeding 60 days in a 120-day period would be deemed a termination unless the employee agrees that the employer can continue to pay wages or make payments for the employee in accordance with a pension or employee insurance plan or similar plan.2

Youth Employment

  • Children 12 years old or younger would only be able to be employed in an "artistic endeavour"3 and only if the Director issues a permit authorizing it.
  • Youth between 13 and 15 years old would only be able to be employed in: (a) an artistic endeavour; (b) "light work" 4; or (c) any other work authorized under a permit, except "hazardous work" under occupational health and safety legislation.
  • Youth who are 16 and 17 years old would be able to be employed in any type of work, with restrictions to hazardous work under occupational health and safety legislation. Youth who are 16 and 17 years old would only be able to perform hazardous work if the Director issues a permit authorizing it and there is proper training and supervision.

Persons with Disabilities

  • The Director would no longer be able to issue permits authorizing employers to pay an employee who has a disability less than minimum wage.

Administration and Enforcement

  • An employment standards officer would be able to conduct an inspection, investigation, or inquiry to determine compliance with the ESC or an authorizing or enforcement instrument (such as a permit or order), whether or not the officer has received a complaint.
  • An officer would be able to require employers to conduct compliance audits on themselves.
  • An appeal body would be established to address appeals from employment officer decisions.5
  • An administrative penalty system would be implemented for employers who are found to have breached the ESC.
  • Where necessary, the Director would be able to collect from employers' joint bank accounts.
  • The limitation period for prosecution of an offence under the ESC would increase from 1 year to 2 years.
  • Subject to the Regulations, the Director must publish any permits issued under the ESC and the Regulations, any exemptions or variances issued, and the particulars of enforcement actions taken against employers.

Farm and Ranch Exemptions

  • Family members in farming and ranching are exempt from ESC provisions.
  • Non-family member employees employed in a farming or ranching operation are exempt from provisions related to hours of work, rest periods and overtime.

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Footnotes

1 The Alberta Government has indicated this amount may be revised at a future date to align with proposed changes to federal Employment Insurance benefits (https://www.alberta.ca/employment-standards-changes.aspx.)

2 It would also not be deemed a termination if there is a collective agreement containing recall rights following a layoff.

3 Artistic endeavour would be defined in the Regulations.

4 The Minister would publish what is considered light work on the department website.

5 The Alberta Government has indicated on their website that they contemplate that the appeal body would be the Labour Relations Board in the future.

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.