BC’S New Employment and Labour Legislation Comes With Significant Operational Implications

What employers need to know

The BC Government has introduced changes to the Province’s Employment Standards Act (ESA) and Labour Relations Code (the Code).

The most significant changes to the ESA include:

• Application of the

ESA to unionized workplaces – Previously, parts of the ESA did not apply to collective agreements (dealing with specified issues including hours of work, statutory holidays, vacation time, seniority retention and layoff). Now the collective agreement’s terms must

“meet or exceed” the requirements of the corresponding Part of the ESA in order for a collective agreement to be exempt from the ESA. Implementation is delayed until a current collective agreement expires.

Introduction of new jobprotected unpaid leaves of absence:

• Critical illness or injury leave – Employees may take up to 36 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a critically ill family member under 19 years of age and up to 16 weeks to care for a family member over 19.

• Domestic or sexual violence leave – Employees who are victims of domestic or sexual violence may take up to 10 non-consecutive days of unpaid leave. Employees may request an additional 15 weeks of unpaid leave for related purposes.

Extension of wage recovery period – The period for which an employee is able to recover owed wages has increased from 6 months to 12 months. In prescribed circumstances, the 12 months may be extended to 24 months.

Other notable ESA changes include child employment protections, the treatment of gratuities and more.

Further changes to the ESA are expected in the near future and will likely target overtime hours, compressed work weeks and advance notice of shift changes.

For unionized employers, the most significant changes to the Code include:

• Union successorship between contractors – Successorship rights have expanded to protect workers when certain prescribed services are retendered. If a contracted service provider is unionized, the union rights of its employees are attached to the contract, as opposed to the contactor.

Certification procedures – Union certification votes must be conducted within 5 business days after an application for certification is received, a reduction from the current 10 a day time limit.

• Employer speech restricted and unfair labour practices expanded – Unfair labour practice complaints may arise from expressing critical views of union affairs unrelated to an employer’s business, or from prohibiting an employee’s expression of views related to the employer.

Expedited arbitration procedures – The period in which parties must apply for expedited arbitrations has been reduced from 45 days to 15 days of a grievance procedure’s completion. Other notable changes to the Code relate to consultation obligations, union raiding activity and more.

We’re here to help. Contact us to learn about how these changes will impact your business.

Kathleen Cummins

+1 604 631 4961 kcummins@fasken.com #1800, 13401 108 Avenue, Surrey, BC