Expert says Labour Standards Division has 'very weak enforcement policies'
Two Halifax-area workers remain without thousands of dollars in unpaid wages, despite favourable rulings from Nova Scotia’s Labour Standards Division, according to a CBC report.
In June 2024, Akira Arruda and Teri Boates lodged complaints against Arbuckle Media, a now-defunct marketing firm, alleging unpaid wages and compensation, according to the report.
The provincial Labour Standards Division subsequently determined that the company had violated the Labour Standards Code and, in April, ordered payments exceeding $16,000 in total. Arruda was awarded over $10,000, while Boates was owed more than $6,000 in wages, vacation pay, and notice compensation, according to decision documents obtained by CBC.
However, just weeks later, the workers were informed via email that their cases were being closed as “uncollectible.”
According to the report, a Labour Standards officer stated that although demands were issued to TD Bank and Wealthsimple, both financial institutions confirmed that no funds were available in Arbuckle Media’s accounts. CBC reviewed the correspondence, confirming the province's inability to retrieve the owed amounts.
Arbuckle Media ceased operations after unsustainable financial losses, and is "functionally insolvent,” the company tells CBC.
Nova Scotia's Labour Standards Code
But one local expert is calling for a revamp of the provincial government’s rules against employers who have been found in violation of labour laws.
"Our current Labour Standards Division has very weak enforcement policies and not a lot of mechanisms in order to get justice when the employer doesn't want to play ball," says Sydnee Blum, executive director of the Halifax Workers' Action Centre, in the CBC report.
Under Section 81 of Nova Scotia’s Labour Standards Code, employees can lodge a complaint with the director of Labour Standards if they have not received pay within the past six months. These complaints must relate to violations of wage provisions, such as the mandatory payment frequency outlined in Section 79. This section requires employers to issue pay at least semi-monthly and no later than five working days after the end of each pay period.
Employees can lodge a complaint with the director of Labour Standards if they have not received pay within the past six months. These complaints must relate to violations of wage provisions, such as the mandatory payment frequency outlined in Section 79. This section requires employers to issue pay at least semi-monthly and no later than five working days after the end of each pay period.
Previously, two employers and a company director in Ontario were fined a total of $86,000 for failing to pay wages to workers and subsequently disregarding a legal order to do so, according to the provincial government.
Violations of labour standards
The legal battle is taking a toll on Boates, who suffered a stroke in 2023. After being laid off by the company in July 2024, she says not having health insurance or the money she was owed made it harder to pay for things like medications during her recovery, notes CBC.
"My trust in the system has completely failed me," Arruda adds, according to the report.
In a statement, Nova Scotia's Department of Labour said most labour standards complaints are resolved without a formal decision and that employers voluntarily comply in most cases when there is one.
The Labour Standards Division has "several tools" to try to collect pay when an employer does not comply, the statement said.
"That said, if an employer is no longer operating, having financial trouble and has no identified assets that Labour Standards can use to recover owed pay, there is no ability to satisfy the decision."
But Blum wants the government to implement measures like those in British Columbia, where employers who violate labour standards and are ordered to pay wages must pay fines that increase for subsequent violations within three years of each contravention.
Currently, in Nova Scotia, "even when workers take the prescribed steps by legislation, they follow all of the things that they're supposed to, they're still not able to access justice,” says Blum.
Previously, the Manitoba Labour Board dismissed an appeal by a worker who alleged unpaid wages and discrepancies in her record of employment (ROE).
