Labour code changes would require overtime pay after 44 hours instead of 48
The Nova Scotia government has tabled legislation that would lower the threshold at which workers qualify for overtime pay, expand who is entitled to it, and introduce the province's first formal legal protections for tips and gratuities.
The amendments to the Labour Standards Code, introduced Monday in the legislature, would reduce the overtime threshold from 48 hours per week to 44 hours. The province also proposes to extend overtime eligibility to situations where extra hours are worked voluntarily and permitted by the employer — not just when they are formally required.
"At a time when affordability matters more than ever, this legislation is about putting more money in workers' pockets," said Nolan Young, Minister of Labour, Skills and Immigration.
"It will help workers qualify for overtime pay sooner, keep the tips they earn and recover money they are owed. These are practical changes that strengthen protections for workers and improve fairness in workplaces."
Tip protections fill long-standing gap
Nova Scotia is among the few Canadian provinces that have no specific legislation clarifying that tips belong to the people who earn them.
That omission has long been a point of friction in the restaurant and hospitality sectors, where tip-pooling practices and employer control over gratuities can vary widely. The Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia signalled its support Monday.
"The topic of tip protection has been an ongoing and important conversation in the restaurant and hospitality sectors," said Natasha Chestnut, executive director of the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia, saying it is supportive of legislation “that provides clarity and aligns with what is already best practice in the industry."
Roughly 32,500 Nova Scotians were employed in accommodation and food services in 2025, according to the government, making that sector one of the most directly affected by the new tip provisions.
Recovery tools and wage enforcement
The legislation also gives the government new tools to pursue unpaid wages on behalf of workers — addressing situations where employers fail to remit earnings they legally owe. The province did not specify the precise enforcement mechanisms in Monday's announcement, noting instead that the wage recovery measures will come into effect following stakeholder consultation and the development of accompanying regulations.
The timing of the broader changes varies by provision. Amendments related to overtime and tips are set to take effect on April 1, 2027, giving employers roughly seven months to adapt their payroll and scheduling systems before the new rules apply.
Labour groups call it meaningful progress
The Nova Scotia Federation of Labour, which represents unionized workers across the province, welcomed the legislation as a substantive step forward for lower-wage earners.
"These changes will ensure that the earnings of some of the lowest paid and most precarious workers in our province are protected by the law,” said Melissa Marsman, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour.
The province framed the legislation as part of a broader effort to modernize workplace standards, citing recent expansions to domestic violence leave, changes to the workers' compensation system, and successive increases to the minimum wage. Nova Scotia's minimum wage is set to rise to $17 per hour on Oct. 1 — an increase of more than 30 per cent since 2021.
The government also noted that the amendments help bring Nova Scotia's labour standards into closer alignment with those in other Canadian provinces.
The Labour Standards Code sets minimum workplace standards; employers are free to provide greater wages, benefits or protections than those required by law, and the province notes that many do.
