New workplace rules in Alberta, Ontario

A new year is bringing new employment standards requirements to Alberta and Ontario. On Jan. 1, governments in both provinces implemented wide-ranging changes.

In Alberta, the changes are the first overhaul of the Employment Standards Code since 1988.

“That’s nearly three decades with no major changes, just some minor tweaking every now and then,” said Labour Minister Christina Gray. “Not only have Alberta’s workplace laws lagged behind the times; they’ve lagged behind the rest of Canada as well.”

In Ontario, the amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 came in response to a government-appointed independent review of the province’s workplace laws to make them more relevant to today’s workplace.

“The world of work has changed. The economy has changed. Globalization and other pressures have been brought to bear on the Ontario economy and those workplaces that existed in the mid-1990s have changed. But the rules haven’t,” said Ontario Labour Minister Kevin Flynn.

The amendments in both provinces affect nearly all aspects of employment standards, including hours of work, overtime, holidays, vacations, unpaid leaves, deductions, and terminations.

To help employers ensure that their workplace policies comply the new requirements, here is a look at some of the main changes in both provinces:

Hours of work and overtime

What has changed: In Alberta, employees who have agreements with their employer to take time off in lieu of overtime pay now earn 1.5 hours of time off for every hour of overtime they work. Previously, it was one hour for one hour. Employees may also now bank the time for up to six months.

Averaging agreements have replaced compressed workweeks in Alberta for determining an employee’s entitlement to overtime. The agreements allow employers to average work hours over a period of one to 12 weeks to determine overtime entitlement if the majority of employees affected by the change agree.

Existing compressed workweek arrangements remain valid until next January or until the agreement is terminated, whichever comes first.

In Ontario, new overtime pay rules apply to employees who hold more than one position with their employer. If these employees work overtime, they are now entitled to be paid at the overtime pay rate that applies to the position for which they are working overtime.

What has not: In Alberta, employees continue to be entitled to overtime pay if they work more than eight hours a day or 44 hours per week, whichever is greater. In Ontario, overtime still applies after 44 hours. The overtime pay rate in both provinces remains 1.5 times the employee’s regular rate.

Statutory holidays

What has changed: Employees in Alberta are no longer required to work for their employer for at least 30 days in the 12 months before a general holiday in order to be eligible for holiday pay. Now, all employees covered by the code’s holiday provisions are paid for holidays unless they do not work on the holiday when scheduled or required to do so or are absent from work without the employer’s consent on their regularly scheduled working day immediately before or after the holiday.

In both jurisdictions, there are new rules for calculating holiday pay. In Alberta, an employee’s average daily wage for holiday pay calculations is now five per cent of the wages, vacation pay and general holiday pay that the employee earned in the four weeks right before the holiday.

In Ontario, public holiday pay is now based on the total amount of regular wages that an employee earns in the pay period right before the holiday, divided by the number of days the employee worked during that period.

Alberta has also implemented changes affecting pay for working on a holiday and compensating employees for holidays if their employment ends before they take a substituted holiday or one that fell during their vacation.

The Ontario amendments also require employers to give employees a written statement when they substitute another day for a statutory holiday.

What has not: The statutory holidays recognized in each jurisdiction remain the same.

Vacations

What has changed: In Ontario, employees with at least five years of service with their employer are now entitled to at least three weeks of paid vacation, at six per cent of their earnings. In Alberta, employees are now allowed to take their vacations in periods as short as a half-day.

What has not: Employees in Alberta are still entitled to a minimum of two weeks’ paid vacation after completing each of their first four years of employment. After five years, they get three weeks’ vacation.

In both jurisdictions, the rules for when an employee must take a vacation and when the employer must pay it have not changed.

Leaves of absence

What has changed: Alberta has added unpaid leaves covering illness/injury (16 weeks), personal and family responsibility (five days), bereavement (three days), critically ill children (36 weeks), children who have disappeared or died as the result of a probable crime (52 and 104 weeks, respectively), domestic violence (10 days), and citizenship ceremonies (half-day).

It has also increased the duration of compassionate care leave from eight weeks to 27 weeks and maternity leave from 15 weeks to 16 weeks. The government has also said it may increase the length of parental leave to match recent employment insurance amendments that allow individuals to receive parental benefits over a longer period at a lower rate.

In addition, Alberta has reduced the eligibility period for all of its leaves from 52 weeks to 90 days.

In Ontario, all employees covered by the act are now entitled to take time off work for personal emergency leave. Previously, the leave was only for employees whose employer had at least 50 employees. Employees may take up to 10 days off each year, with two of them paid days.

Ontario has also increased the amount of time off employees may take for a family medical leave from eight weeks to 28 weeks and for a crime-related disappearance of a child from 52 weeks to 104 weeks. Employees whose child dies may now take up to 104 weeks off regardless of the reason for the death.

Ontario has also introduced a leave for domestic or sexual violence. Eligible employees may take up to 10 days and 15 weeks off work each year for themselves or their child if either is the victim of domestic or sexual violence or the threat of it. Employers must pay employees for the first five days of leave each year.

What has not: Employers in Alberta are still not required to maintain benefits for an employee on an unpaid leave unless it is part of an employment or collective agreement. The rules in both jurisdictions for reinstating employees once their leaves are over remain the same.

Pay and deductions

What has changed: The rules in Alberta now prohibit employers from taking deductions from employees’ pay for any damage an employee causes or for cash shortages caused by the employee’s failure to collect all or part of the purchase price from a customer.

These prohibitions are in addition to those covering deductions for faulty work and cash shortages or loss of property if the employee was not the only person who had access to the property or the missing money in question.

In Ontario, the Ministry of Labour now has the authority to prescribe additional methods for employers to pay employees beyond cash, cheque or direct deposit.

What has not: The rules covering pay period length, paydays, and pay statements remain the same.

Terminations

What has changed: New notice requirements apply for group terminations in Alberta. If an employer is terminating the employment of 50 or more employees from a single location in a four-week period, the employer must give the employees notice based on the number of workers being let go.

For 50 to 99 employees, eight weeks’ notice is required. For 100 to 299 employees, 12 weeks’ notice is needed, rising to 16 weeks for 300 or more workers. The employer must give the same amount of notice to the labour ministry and the unions representing the employees.

The Alberta amendments also clarify rules for temporary layoffs and paying termination pay when a worker’s wages vary. In addition, they specify that notice requirements apply after 90 days of employment. They also prohibit employers from requiring employees to use banked overtime during a termination notice period, unless both sides agree to it.

What has not: The amount of termination notice required in both jurisdictions for an individual termination remains the same. There are no changes to severance pay rules in Ontario.

Other changes include new rules for employing young workers (Alberta) and for hiring and terminating the employment of temporary help workers (Ontario).

In addition, Ontario will implement amendments in April requiring casual, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees to be paid equally to full-time staff when doing the same job. Exceptions will apply for factors such as seniority or a merit system.

Next year, Ontario plans to implement changes affecting employee scheduling and call-in pay.