The Federal Labour Minister announced that legislation will be introduced this fall to modernize the decades-old Canada Labour Code (the "Code"). Restoring a work-life balance and better protections for precarious workers, such as part-time, temporary, and contract workers, will be among the key focuses of a planned legislative changes. The federal government is also considering whether the revamped Code should include giving workers the "right to disconnect" and ignore their job-related emails at home.
The planned rewrite of Code will affect more than 900,000 workers in federally-regulated fields, such as banking, telecommunication, air transportation, and railway, which represents about 6 per cent of the national workforce1.
It was announced that the updated legislation will take effect by the time Labour Day rolls around in 2019. It is important to underscore that the planned changes have not actually been passed into law, so it remains to be seen which changes will ultimately be adopted and implemented by the Government. We will update you periodically as the legislation moves through the legislative process.
If you have any questions about the potential implications of the proposed changes on your organizations, or any other questions relating to this topic, please do not hesitate to contact a lawyer in our Labour and Employment group.
Footnote
1 Federally Regulated Businesses and Industries, Government of Canada Website: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/employment-equity/regulated-industries.html
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