In this final installment of the trilogy outlining your workplace rights and obligations as a federally regulated employee, we look at the Canada Labour Code provisions dealing with dismissal and termination. As a federally regulated employee, you can be terminated for just cause, without notice.
If, however, you are terminated without cause, your employer must provide you with two weeks written notice or two weeks’ pay in lieu of notice. Furthermore, if you have completed 1 year of continuous service and you were fired, you are also entitled to “Severance Pay” in the (greater of) two days of pay per year of service or five days’ pay. If you quit, you are not entitled to Severance Pay.
If you did not receive notice or your proper financial entitlement, and you meet the following four criteria, you have 90 days from the date of your dismissal to file a complaint to Labour Canada under Section 240 of the CLC for “unjust dismissal”.
· You were not a manager
· Your termination wasn’t due to a genuine redundancy or a discontinuance of your position.
· You worked continuously for more than 1 year.
· You were not a member of a union.
Potential remedies are broader than those available to provincial employees (who fall under the Employment Standards Act- see “Know Your Rights: Provincially Regulated Employees”) and include: lost wages and benefits since termination plus interest, reinstatement, legal costs, a letter of reference and/or “any other like thing that it is equitable to require the employer to do in order to remedy or counteract any consequence of the dismissal”.
Concluding Note
For more information on your rights and obligations as an employee in a federally regulated industry, please contact the nearest Human Resources and Skills Development Canada Labour Office at 1-800-641-4049.
You can also visit the HRSDC website: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/labour/index.shtml.
Next instalment: Provincially Regulated Employees - Part 4: What Legislation Applies to You?
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Federally Regulated Employees - Part 2: Your Basic Rights
Hours of Work
The Canada Labour Code defines a work day as 8 hours, and a work week as 40 hours per week. Hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week (“overtime”) should be paid at a rate of not less than one-half times the regular rate of pay, and you can’t be required to work more than 48 hours per week.
Reporting Pay
If you show up to work at the request of your employer, you are entitled to a minimum of 3 hours of regular pay, even if there is no work to perform.
Statutory Holidays
Under the CLC, you are entitled to 9 paid statutory holidays per year. If a holiday falls on your day off, you are still entitled to holiday pay. You and your employer can add a day to your annual vacation or your employer can grant you a holiday with pay on a mutually agreeable day. When New Year’s Day, Canada Day, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day or Boxing Day fall on a weekend day that is a non-working day, you are entitled to a holiday with pay on the work day that immediately precedes or follows the holiday. The next statutory holiday will be Canada Day.
Sick Leave
As a federally regulated employee, you are protected for absences not exceeding 12 weeks and you will be required to provide a medical certificate after you have returned to work. The CLC protects you against dismissal, demotion, layoff or suspension because of an absence due to illness or injury. If a loved one becomes ill, you may apply for “Compassionate Care Leave” which allows for all employees to apply for up to 8 weeks of time off to care for and to support a family member who is seriously ill.
Maternity and Parental Leave
You are entitled to up to 17 weeks of maternity leave if you have completed 6 consecutive months of continuous employment. You can take this leave any time during the period that begins 11 weeks before your expected date of delivery and ends 17 weeks after the actual delivery date. You must provide your employer with written notice of your intent to take your maternity leave at least four weeks prior to your maternity leave. You and your spouse are also entitled to a maximum of 37 weeks of “parental leave” which can be shared in any proportion, so long as the aggregate is less than 52 weeks. For example, a woman who has opted to take the entire 17 week entitlement of maternity leave may only claim a maximum of 35 weeks parental leave.
Next instalment - Part 3: Have You Been Dismissed?
The Canada Labour Code defines a work day as 8 hours, and a work week as 40 hours per week. Hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week (“overtime”) should be paid at a rate of not less than one-half times the regular rate of pay, and you can’t be required to work more than 48 hours per week.
Reporting Pay
If you show up to work at the request of your employer, you are entitled to a minimum of 3 hours of regular pay, even if there is no work to perform.
Statutory Holidays
Under the CLC, you are entitled to 9 paid statutory holidays per year. If a holiday falls on your day off, you are still entitled to holiday pay. You and your employer can add a day to your annual vacation or your employer can grant you a holiday with pay on a mutually agreeable day. When New Year’s Day, Canada Day, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day or Boxing Day fall on a weekend day that is a non-working day, you are entitled to a holiday with pay on the work day that immediately precedes or follows the holiday. The next statutory holiday will be Canada Day.
Sick Leave
As a federally regulated employee, you are protected for absences not exceeding 12 weeks and you will be required to provide a medical certificate after you have returned to work. The CLC protects you against dismissal, demotion, layoff or suspension because of an absence due to illness or injury. If a loved one becomes ill, you may apply for “Compassionate Care Leave” which allows for all employees to apply for up to 8 weeks of time off to care for and to support a family member who is seriously ill.
Maternity and Parental Leave
You are entitled to up to 17 weeks of maternity leave if you have completed 6 consecutive months of continuous employment. You can take this leave any time during the period that begins 11 weeks before your expected date of delivery and ends 17 weeks after the actual delivery date. You must provide your employer with written notice of your intent to take your maternity leave at least four weeks prior to your maternity leave. You and your spouse are also entitled to a maximum of 37 weeks of “parental leave” which can be shared in any proportion, so long as the aggregate is less than 52 weeks. For example, a woman who has opted to take the entire 17 week entitlement of maternity leave may only claim a maximum of 35 weeks parental leave.
Next instalment - Part 3: Have You Been Dismissed?
Federally Regulated Employees - Part 1: What Legislation Applies to You?
Corinna Traill
With the Canadian Union of Postal Workers currently out on strike and the federal Air Canada employees legislated back to work last week, this is a good time to start thinking about your workplace rights. This is the first instalment of a six-part “Know Your Rights” blog series describing the workplace rights and obligations for both federally and provincially regulated employees.
First, you must first determine which legislation applies to ¬you.
If you work in an industry that falls into any of the following categories, then you are part of the 10% of Canadian workers who are “federally regulated” and whose workplace rights and obligations are described in the Canada Labour Code (“CLC”). Interestingly, Ontario has a higher portion of federally regulated employees (40%) than any other region in the country!
Federally regulated industries include:
• Banking (bank tellers)
• Telecommunications (telephone and cable companies, radio and television broadcasting)
• Canada Post
• Pipelines
• Air Transportation (airport and airline employees)
• Railway and Road Transportation (GO, CN and VIA Rail employees, truck drivers)
• Customs
Next instalment – Part 2: Your Basic Rights
With the Canadian Union of Postal Workers currently out on strike and the federal Air Canada employees legislated back to work last week, this is a good time to start thinking about your workplace rights. This is the first instalment of a six-part “Know Your Rights” blog series describing the workplace rights and obligations for both federally and provincially regulated employees.
First, you must first determine which legislation applies to ¬you.
If you work in an industry that falls into any of the following categories, then you are part of the 10% of Canadian workers who are “federally regulated” and whose workplace rights and obligations are described in the Canada Labour Code (“CLC”). Interestingly, Ontario has a higher portion of federally regulated employees (40%) than any other region in the country!
Federally regulated industries include:
• Banking (bank tellers)
• Telecommunications (telephone and cable companies, radio and television broadcasting)
• Canada Post
• Pipelines
• Air Transportation (airport and airline employees)
• Railway and Road Transportation (GO, CN and VIA Rail employees, truck drivers)
• Customs
Next instalment – Part 2: Your Basic Rights
Monday, May 30, 2011
Government pledges to help workers cheated by employers
Workers who have been victims of “wage theft” and other workplace mistreatment must not be afraid to come forward, Ontario Labour Minister Charles Sousa said Monday.
“I say this to those that are feeling intimidated: Call the ministry,” Sousa said in response to a report about two nannies who together are owed more than $200,000 in unpaid wages, overtime and holiday pay from their employers.
“We will react and we will ensure that their issues are covered and do everything in our power to protect them,” Sousa said.
Read the full story in the Toronto Star
“I say this to those that are feeling intimidated: Call the ministry,” Sousa said in response to a report about two nannies who together are owed more than $200,000 in unpaid wages, overtime and holiday pay from their employers.
“We will react and we will ensure that their issues are covered and do everything in our power to protect them,” Sousa said.
Read the full story in the Toronto Star
Caregiver sues former employer, claiming $162,000 in lost wages
At 21, Lilliane Namukasa left Uganda to make a new life in Canada as a live-in caregiver for two small children.
But after working full-time for two years, she was paid just $2,100 by her Brampton employer and then fired without cause, forcing her into a homeless shelter, Namukasa says in a claim filed in Ontario Superior Court.
This is despite an employment contract that entitled Namukasa to receive approximately $22,000 a year, before taxes, minus $2,860 for room and board, she says in the claim.
Namukasa is seeking $162,000 for breach of contract and unpaid wages, statutory holiday pay and vacation pay. She is further claiming $33,000 for wrongful dismissal.
The allegations have not been proved in court.
The Workers’ Action Centre, a non-profit worker-based organization, says the case is one more example of wage theft faced by Ontario’s most vulnerable workers.
The centre, which is holding a Queen’s Park news conference Monday, is highlighting Namukasa’s plight and that of another live-in caregiver, as part of its campaign to beef up the province’s outdated Employment Standards Act.
“Workers should not be forced to take court action to recover unpaid wages, overtime and other employment standards entitlements,” says the centre’s coordinator Deena Ladd.
Read the article in the Toronto Star
Go to the Workers' Action Centre
But after working full-time for two years, she was paid just $2,100 by her Brampton employer and then fired without cause, forcing her into a homeless shelter, Namukasa says in a claim filed in Ontario Superior Court.
This is despite an employment contract that entitled Namukasa to receive approximately $22,000 a year, before taxes, minus $2,860 for room and board, she says in the claim.
Namukasa is seeking $162,000 for breach of contract and unpaid wages, statutory holiday pay and vacation pay. She is further claiming $33,000 for wrongful dismissal.
The allegations have not been proved in court.
The Workers’ Action Centre, a non-profit worker-based organization, says the case is one more example of wage theft faced by Ontario’s most vulnerable workers.
The centre, which is holding a Queen’s Park news conference Monday, is highlighting Namukasa’s plight and that of another live-in caregiver, as part of its campaign to beef up the province’s outdated Employment Standards Act.
“Workers should not be forced to take court action to recover unpaid wages, overtime and other employment standards entitlements,” says the centre’s coordinator Deena Ladd.
Read the article in the Toronto Star
Go to the Workers' Action Centre
Friday, May 13, 2011
Workers’ Action Centre Launches “Stop Wage Theft” Campaign
On Friday May 13th, 2011, the Workers’ Action Centre, worker-based organization committed to improving the lives and working conditions of people working in low-wage and unstable employment, will be launching its provincial “Stop Wage Theft” Campaign.
The campaign is directed at pressuring the government to protect workers by prohibiting employers from “stealing” wages through non-payment of regular or overtime wages, from charging fees for job training and from characterizing employees as “independent contractors” or “self employed” when, in fact, workers are employees of the particular employer!
Indeed, many companies, especially in the construction, cleaning and door-to-door sales industries, will falsely describe employees as “independent contractors” in order to deprive them of the many protections owed under Canadian labour legislation including minimum wage, overtime and Employment Insurance
This initiative by the Workers’ Action Centre is consistent with similar campaigns launched in the United States, where many states have, in response to public and political pressure to crack down on “bad employers”, enacted Wage Theft laws.
The Stop Wage Theft Campaign Calls on the Provincial Government to…
If you wish to report an instance of “Wage Theft” in your workplace, call the WAC hotline at (416) 531-0778.
The campaign is directed at pressuring the government to protect workers by prohibiting employers from “stealing” wages through non-payment of regular or overtime wages, from charging fees for job training and from characterizing employees as “independent contractors” or “self employed” when, in fact, workers are employees of the particular employer!
Indeed, many companies, especially in the construction, cleaning and door-to-door sales industries, will falsely describe employees as “independent contractors” in order to deprive them of the many protections owed under Canadian labour legislation including minimum wage, overtime and Employment Insurance
This initiative by the Workers’ Action Centre is consistent with similar campaigns launched in the United States, where many states have, in response to public and political pressure to crack down on “bad employers”, enacted Wage Theft laws.
The Stop Wage Theft Campaign Calls on the Provincial Government to…
- Make all employers follow the law in all workplaces
- Update labour laws to protect all workers
- Increase the minimum wage to bring workers out of poverty
- Ensure equal status and protection for all workers regardless of immigration status
- Fix Employment Insurance
If you wish to report an instance of “Wage Theft” in your workplace, call the WAC hotline at (416) 531-0778.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
How what you do outside the office can get you fired
How you behave when you’re not at work has an impact, especially in these days of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. And while your behaviour may not be as questionable as the Quebec teacher who was dismissed after it was discovered she moonlighted as a porn star, conduct outside the office can have negative results.
Employees who believe that their conduct away from the office is immune from discipline are mistaken, says workplace lawyer Daniel Lublin. “Behaviour unrelated to the workplace but which nonetheless injures an employer’s interests can amount to cause for dismissal,” he says.
Read more on the Toronto Star
Employees who believe that their conduct away from the office is immune from discipline are mistaken, says workplace lawyer Daniel Lublin. “Behaviour unrelated to the workplace but which nonetheless injures an employer’s interests can amount to cause for dismissal,” he says.
Read more on the Toronto Star
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