The (Sometimes Complicated) Rules that Apply to Farm Workers in Alberta.

• Date: 01 March 2022
• Author: Steingard, Jessica

In January 2020, the rules changed to exempt farm and ranch employees on small farms from employment standards laws.

Alberta's Employment Standards Code (and the Employment Standards Regulation) applies to most workers in Alberta. But it creates all kinds of exceptions for farm workers, including whether the rules even apply at all.

In November 2019, the UCP government introduced Bill 26: Farm Freedom and Safety Act. The Bill amended the Agricultural Operation Practices Act, the Employment Standards Code, and the Labour Relations Code. It included some of the rules described above, which came into effect on January 30, 2020.

Bill 26 meant to undo some of the changes to the agricultural industry first introduced by the NDP in 2015 through Bill 6: Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act, which was met with mixed reviews at the time. According to discussion in the legislature, the changes included in Bill 26 were made after "extensive consultations over months with agricultural stakeholders." Changes to the Employment Standards Code carved out exceptions for small farms and recognized greenhouses and nurseries as farms.

Let's start with a definition of farm and ranch...