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Monday, August 5, 2019

Alberta Labour Law Changes and Local 63 Members

How do the changes impact you?

On May 27, 2019, the new UCP government in Alberta brought forward Bill 2, which made changes to a number of provisions in the Employment Standards Code and the Labour Relations Code. Many of the changes were repeals of legislation enacted by the NDP while they were in government from 2015-2019. Here’s how the key changes do, or don’t, affect you working in the construction and maintenance industries.

 

General Holiday Pay Requirements

Employers are no longer required to pay holiday pay to employees for days that they would not have worked. Rather, they must pay only if an employee worked on that day of the week at least five times out of the past nine weeks. Employees must also now be working for the same employer for at least 30 work days during the preceding 12-month period to qualify for general holiday pay. These changes do not affect the construction or maintenance industries, as four percent holiday pay is built into the standard ten percent holiday/vacation pay that all employees receive on a regular basis, covering the entitlement to general holiday pay throughout the year.

 

Banked Overtime

With employee consent (through an overtime agreement), overtime hours can once again be banked at straight time, instead of being forced to be banked at time-and-a-half as the previous legislation stated. This feature is primarily used by small business employers, with the consent of employees. This change will not affect the construction and maintenance industries, unless employees voluntarily agree by signing overtime agreements.

 

Secret Ballot Votes for Union Certification

Unions can no longer apply for automatic certification, without a vote, if they have 55 percent or more support for an application filed with the Alberta Labour Relations Board. Like the previous rules for certification, unions must now file a minimum of 40 percent support with the board, after which employees will get to participate in a secret-ballot vote, conducted by the board, to vote yes or no to joining a union. This change will not affect existing CLAC members but will impact the rules by which CLAC organizes and continues to grow.

 

Minimum Wage

While the general minimum wage will remain $15 per hour, the minimum wage for employees under age 18 (called the “lower experienced wage”) will now be set at $13 per hour. The new lower minimum wage will apply for the first 28 hours worked in a week when a student is in school and for all hours worked when school is on a break, such as the summer. This change will not apply to Local 63 members working in construction and maintenance industries.

Have questions? Contact a CLAC steward in your workplace or a CLAC representative for more information.