Shift changes. Subject to a narrow exemption for emergencies, employers must now provide 24 hours’ written notice of any change or addition to a work period or shift.
Overtime refusal. Subject to a narrow exemption for emergencies, employees will have the right to refuse overtime in order to carry out certain family responsibilities.
Advance notice of schedule. Employers must provide 96 hours’ notice in writing of an employee’s work schedule. Employees may refuse to work any shift that starts less than 96 hours after the schedule is received.
Medical breaks. Employees may take any unpaid breaks necessary for medical reasons.
Breaks. Employers will be required to provide their employees with an unpaid break of at least 30 minutes within every period of five consecutive hours of work.
Eight-hour rest periods. Employees must be granted a rest period of at least eight consecutive hours between work periods or shifts.
Right to request flex work. After six consecutive months of employment, employees will have the right to request a change to hours, work schedule, location and other terms and conditions that may be specified in new regulations or legislation. An employer may refuse such a request only on certain grounds.
Leave for Aboriginal practices. Aboriginal employees who have completed at least three consecutive months of continuous employment may take up to five days of unpaid leave each calendar year to participate in traditional Aboriginal practices.
Personal leave. Employees will be entitled to a new personal leave of up to five days per calendar year, including three days with pay, after three consecutive months of continuous employment.
Family violence leave. Employees will be entitled to a new leave of up to 10 days each calendar year if an employee or their child is a victim of family violence. For employees with at least three consecutive months of continuous employment the first five days are paid.
Vacation entitlements. Vacation entitlements after a year’s employment will be unchanged at two weeks and four per cent vacation pay. That will now go to three weeks and six per cent after five years, rather than the current six. And there’s a new entitlement of four weeks and eight per cent vacation pay after 10 years.
Holiday pay. The 30-day length of service requirement for entitlement to holiday pay will be eliminated. All employees will now be entitled to holiday pay.
You could be forgiven if, like many federally regulated businesses, you missed these amendments when the government introduced them in 2017 and 2018. Despite decrying the Harper government’s use of omnibus legislation as a “way of avoiding debate,” the Trudeau government buried its own amendments to the Labour Code in omnibus bills touching on such a wide variety of subjects that one is more than 800 pages and the other more than 300 pages. …..More in the link