British Columbia Employment Standards and Labour Relations Reforms Passed

• Author: Marie-Yosie Saint-Cyr, First Reference Managing Editor
• Date: June 06, 2019

On May 30, 2019, the British Columbia government gave royal assent to an amended version of Bill 8, Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2019 to significantly update the Employment Standards Act, and royal assent to an amended version of Bill 30, Labour Relations Code Amendment Act, 2019 to provide greater protections for unionized workers. According to the government, the changes will better protect workers, bring greater stability for employers and more durable labour relations.

British Columbia changes to employment standards

The majority of the changes found in the Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2019 (introduced as Bill 8) come into force on proclamation at a date specified by an order of the Governor in Council.

What was amended before Bill 8 passed?

Leave respecting domestic violence was amended to cover sexual violence. Therefore the leave will be called Leave respecting domestic or sexual violence and includes sexual abuse by any person and not just an intimate partner or by a family member. In addition, domestic and sexual violence includes: attempts to commit (i) physical abuse by an intimate partner or by a family member, or (ii) sexual abuse by any person.

How to comply?

Employers need to prepare by familiarizing themselves with all of the changes, and reviewing their policies and HR practices to see how these changes impact current rules. We will keep you abreast of the effective dates of the changes once proclaimed. See details on the new and amended provisions in a previous Slaw blog post here.

British Columbia changes to labour relations

Most of the changes in the Labour Relations Code Amendment Act, 2019 (introduced as Bill 30) come into force on assent except for section 10 that comes into force on the day of first reading of the Bill, on April 30, 2019.

What was amended before Bill 30 was passed?

Section 6 of Bill 30 was amended as it relates to section 19, Raid under the Labour Relations Code. Section 19 was going to be amended to restrict union raiding activity to the seventh and eight months of the third year of a collective agreement, and each year thereafter, if the term of a collective agreement is for more than three years. If a collective agreement is for a term of three years or less, raiding may only occur during the seventh and eighth months of the final year of the term. In the construction industry, raiding activity may occur during July and August of each...