Archived - Discussion Paper on the Review of Labour Standards in the Canada Labour Code

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Annex A: Remaining Recommendations

The Commission made almost 200 recommendations in its final report. The Technical Discussion Paper discusses the majority of these recommendations. All recommendations that were not mentioned have been listed in this Annex. They can be grouped into three major categories.

  • Recommendations in the first group are of a technical nature and do not require discussion. These recommendations have been excluded because they codify existing practices, clarify the language used in Part III, correct minor legislative defects, resolve highly technical problems in the application of Part III, or have become inapplicable due to recent legislative or regulatory developments.
  • Recommendations in the second group are suggestions to employers for best practices, rather than proposals for legislative change.
  • Recommendations in the third group are administrative rather than legislative in nature. Recommendations in this group would not be implemented through amendments to Part III. Some of these recommendations are directed at the programs and policies of the Labour Program. Others are aimed at the programs and policies of different federal government departments. These recommendations sometimes call for inter-departmental consultations or consultations with provincial and territorial government officials.

Recommendations of a technical nature:

  • Recommendation 4.13
    • Part III should be amended to apply extraterritorially to employees of federally regulated enterprises if they work partly in Canada and partly abroad, if their contract of employment is enforceable in Canada, or if they are covered by the collective agreement of a union that holds bargaining rights under Canadian law.
  • Recommendation 5.9
    • Part III should be amended to permit any person or body exercising decision-making powers under Part III to determine that associated or related works, undertakings or businesses under common control or direction are a single employer for purposes of the statute. Such determinations should be subject to appeal in the same manner as other determinations made under Part III.
  • Recommendation 5.14
    • Bill C-55 should be proclaimed in force at the earliest opportunity to protect employees who are owed wages and benefits by their insolvent employer.
  • Recommendation 6.6
    • The Labour Program should ensure that Part III is drafted, interpreted and administered in such a way as to advance the principles embodied in the Canadian Human Rights Act as well as to comply with its specific requirements.
  • Recommendation 7.42
    • Banked overtime should be deemed to be wages earned and owing under both Part III and Bill C-55, An Act to Establish the Wage Earner Protection Program.
  • Recommendation 7.64
    • The Minister should enact a regulation specifying how and on what basis vacation pay is to be divided and, if the vacation is fractioned, when it is to be paid.
  • Recommendation 8.11
    • Dismissal of employees in violation of Part III, including dismissal of those who provide information or evidence to inspectors or bring complaints under Part III, should be more clearly identified as an offence. Cases of unjust dismissal not involving statutory violations would not constitute an offence.
  • Recommendation 8.12
    • In addition to paying a fine, upon conviction employers should be ordered to reinstate the employees and to compensate them fully for past or future losses attributable to the offence and for any unpaid wages or benefits owing to them, whether under Part III, under contract or otherwise. In appropriate cases, company officers or directors should be liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, liable to fines or imprisonment.
  • Recommendation 9.21 (part of recommendation)
    • Before bringing an appeal from any order of an inspector, an employer must deposit with the Labour Program any amount found owing by the inspector or provide a bond to ensure payment.
  • Recommendation 11.2 (part of recommendation)
    • Provision should be made for approved adjustment plans to operate over longer periods of time than currently provided for.
  • Recommendation T5.1
    • Part III should be amended to permit employers to issue pay statements by electronic means subject to defined conditions, and to provide the Minister with the authority to make regulations related to the accessibility, privacy, retention and content of pay statements.

(Recommendation T5.1 has already been implemented in the Electronic Alternatives Regulations for the Purposes of Subsection 254(1) of the Canada Labour Code, SOR/2008-115, under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. This Regulation was published in Part II of the Canada Gazette on April 30, 2008).

  • Recommendation T6.1
    • Part III should be amended so that the minimum level of wages provided to injured workers under a wage-replacement plan is that of the province or territory where the work is performed, rather than that of the workers’ place of residence.
  • Recommendation T7.1
    • Section 188 of the Code should be amended to provide that employers pay employees any wages or other amounts owing under Part III within thirty days from the time when the entitlement to the wages or other amounts arose, so as to ensure that section 188 operates consistently with section 247 of the Code.
  • Recommendation T7.2
    • The wording of section 169 of Part III should be changed to clarify that standard hours of work do not constitute “maximum” hours of work.
  • Recommendation T7.8
    • Part III should be amended to specify that the service of an employee continues to accumulate while on a leave recognized under Part III, with respect to the calculation of annual vacation entitlements and severance pay.
  • Recommendation T8.1
    • Section 235(1) should be amended to clarify that the severance pay entitlement under the Code is the greater of either five days pay or two days pay for each completed year of employment.
  • Recommendation T8.2
    • Part III should be amended to provide a means of calculating “regular rate of wages for the employee’s regular hours of work” for the purposes of sections 230(1) and 235(1), in circumstances where an employee has been laid off without wages for a period of time immediately preceding the termination of his or her employment.
  • Recommendation T8.3
    • Part III should be amended to ensure that an employee on layoff at the time of termination of employment receives either two weeks notice and his or her regular wages during the notice period or two weeks pay in lieu of notice.
  • Recommendation T8.4
    • Part III should be amended to make clear that a trustee appointed in bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings inherits the obligation of the employer to give notice of termination and to comply with any other relevant provisions of Part III.

Recommendations directed at employers:

  • Recommendation 6.2
    • All employers in the federal domain should adopt procedures and practices for dealing with employee discipline that are based on the principles of respect for the individual, are corrective rather than punitive in character, and are fair.
  • Recommendation 6.7
    • Employers and workers should respect the principles of the Canadian Human Rights Act and adjust their workplace agreements and practices accordingly.

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Date Modified:
2012-02-15