Some brief Q/A regarding the changes to the Canada Labour Code
- Q. With respect to new personal leave provision in effect as of September 1, are the 5 days of leave “pro-rated” for the remainder of the 2019 year?
- No. The leave is not pro-rated. Employees who qualify for the leave are entitled to the full allotment (5 days of leave, 3 paid) for the period September 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019.
Source: IPG 099 “Stacking” guideline: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/laws-regulations/labour/interpretations-policies/stacking.html
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- Q. Is the personal leave allocated by work day (e.g. 1 leave day = 1 regularly scheduled shift)?
- A. Yes. Section 206.6 (2) of the Code states that “The employer may require that each period of leave be of not less than one day’s duration.”
Source: Bill C-86, page 492: https://www.parl.ca/Content/Bills/421/Government/C-86/C-86_4/C-86_4.PDF
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- Q. Is the paid personal leave based on a standard 8-hour work day?
- A. No. In section 206.6 (2) of the Code, after an employee has completed three months’ of continuous employment with the employer, they shall be entitled to the first three days of personal leave with pay. That pay will be “at their regular rate of wages for their normal hours of work, and such pay shall for all purposes be considered to be wages.”
Source: Bill C-86, page 492: https://www.parl.ca/Content/Bills/421/Government/C-86/C-86_4/C-86_4.PDF
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Canada Labour Code Part III
This memorandum describes and analyses recent changes to Part III of the Canada Labour
Code. Many of these changes came into effect on September 1, 2019.
Part III of the Code is about labour standards. The Code applies only to employees in federally
regulated businesses.
As of the date of this memo, it is difficult to locate a published version of the Code that
incorporates all of these changes. Be sure to check the currency of any version of the Code that
you are using.
The government will eventually make regulations that may modify or explain these new rules.
Those regulations will not be made until 2020. In the meantime, the government has issued a
number of interpretation and policy guidelines (IPGs) that can be found linked here in English
and French.
One of these IPGs also exempts certain kinds of employment from the application of some of
the new rules.
Background
The background to these changes is a years-long process that has taken place under the broad
heading of “modernization of the Canada Labour Code”. One of the main themes in the
modernization project was improving work-life balance by enacting new measures about
scheduling, and time away from work. Another of the main themes was the promotion of fair
treatment and compensation for workers in non-standard or precarious work.
There were a number of statutory amendments beginning in 2017. They were part of much
larger budget implementation bills and therefore were easily overlooked. Some of the changes
have been in place for some time but not proclaimed in force right away. Some of the changes
were amended before they even came into force. All of this has resulted in a confusing and
overlapping set of amendments.