Employees in Canada are either “provincial” or “federal” when it comes to employment rights. What this means is that your employment is essentially governed either by the province in which you work, or by the employment standards designed and implemented by the federal government.
Am I a Federally Regulated Employee?
How do you know if you are a federally regulated employee? It’s often not obvious, but generally speaking employees working in sectors that cross provincial borders such as banking, telecommunications, transportation (i.e. airlines) are federally regulated. If you are not sure, a call to the appropriate government office and/or competent employment counsel can get you the answer.
Changes to the Canada Labour Code
Why am I writing about this? I am doing so because the federal government is working on changes to the Canada Labour Code, the employment legislation governing federally regulated employees. The changes were introduced on October 29, 2018 by the federal Liberal government through Bill C-86 called “A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 27, 2018 and other measures.”
The legislation, if implemented, would do a range of things, including but not limited to:
- Increasing employee rights relating to scheduling and hours of work
- Expanding the number of expenses for which employers would be required to reimburse employees
- Increasing vacation entitlement and the associated pay
- Prohibiting paying workers different rates because of their employment status (i.e. part-time or full-time)
- Expansion to the range and quantity of leaves of absence
- Increase in notice requirements relating to termination of employment
- Expansion in obligations relating to addressing gender pay gaps
Why is This Important?
If the law is passed it will represent an increase in rights for employees who work within a range of industries. This will result in significant changes form which employees will benefit, and which employers will need to implement. For more information on this bill or any related matters, please feel free to contact Toronto Employment Counsel Sharaf Sultan at 416-214-5111. or by here.
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