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New rights for employees
A number of new employment laws came into force in April 2024 to provide greater flexibility for employees, including enhanced flexible working rights and new leave entitlements.
Canada | Publication | September 2019
Upcoming amendments to the Canada Labour Code will impose obligations on temporary help agencies with employees working for federally regulated employers (the Amendments). The date the Amendments come into force has yet to be announced, but the Labour Program from Employment and Social Development Canada anticipates they may be implemented as early as 2020.
The Amendments include a number of provisions that prohibit employers from engaging in certain activities such as:
If an employee pays any fees noted in paragraphs a) to d), then the employer will be required to pay him or her an amount equal to the fees incurred.
Additionally, employers will be prohibited from paying employees a rate of wages that is less than that paid by the client if:
However, a difference in the rate of wages paid to employees by the employer and the client may be permissible if the difference is based on seniority; merit; the quantity or quality of each employee’s production; or any other criterion that may be prescribed by future regulation. That being said, it should be noted the Amendments will prohibit a client from reducing its employee’s wage rate in order to comply with this provision.
Under the Amendments, if an employee believes his or her rate of wages is not compliant with the Code, and provides the employer with a written request for a review of his or her rate, the employer must conduct a review and provide the employee with a written response within 90 days. All employer responses must include:
The Amendments specify that an employer will be prohibited from dismissing, suspending, laying off, demoting or disciplining an employee because the employee has made a lawful request for a review of his or her rate of wages. Likewise, employers will be prohibited from taking into account an employee’s lawful request for review in any decision to promote, train or provide an assignment to him or her.
If an inspection is carried out, or a complaint for non-compliance is made by an employee before the head of compliance and enforcement, the Amendments state that employer’s clients will be treated as if they were the employer.
While this legislation is not yet in force, temporary help agencies and their federally regulated clients should review their recruitment and compensation practices and ensure they do not contemplate any prohibited fees. In preparation for these new obligations, agencies and employers may wish to review their policies, practices and contracts to identify necessary changes to comply with the Amendments. Employers must also be aware of the obligation to provide equal treatment between employees, and ensure any difference in wage rate can be attributed to seniority, merit, or the quantity or quality of each employee’s production.
We will keep monitoring developments in this area very closely in the coming months.
The authors wish to thank Kayla Quintal, articling student, for her contribution to this legal update.
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