Topics up for discussion include paid holidays, sick leave, sexual harassment
Having started a formal review of the Employment Standards Act in October 2021, Prince Edward Island is now seeking feedback from the public.
“The interim report is available and contains a detailed outline of stakeholder proposals for change, some related research, and comparisons with other Canadian jurisdictions,” says Andrew Thompson, chairperson of the Employment Standards Act Comprehensive Review Panel.
“We encourage interested groups and individuals to take a look at the report and provide further input during this public stage of the review, so we can update and modernize the legislation together.”
The last time the act was updated was in 2006, but there have been updates, such as the recent pay transparency and pre-natal pregnancy loss amendments and the introduction of the Domestic Violence, Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence Leave Regulations, along with the Non-disclosure Agreements Act and the Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act.
Read more: Pay transparency coming soon to P.E.I.
Proposed changes up for discussion include:
- changing the definitions for “employee,” “employer,” “family,” “regular rate of wages”
- the processes for determining and publishing minimum wage orders
- paid holidays
- thresholds for annual vacation with pay
- standard hours of work
- reporting pay and tips or gratuities
- sick leave, bereavement leave, reservist leave
- sexual harassment
- notice of termination
- telework and the right to disconnect
- the gender wage gap
- precarious employment
Read more: P.E.I. looks for feedback on changes to workers’ comp
The interim report contains information gathered from organizations and stakeholders as well as from related research and other jurisdictions on the modernization of employment standards.
