June 2024 brings many changes to federal employment laws

June 2024 has seen many changes to employment laws for federally regulated workplaces. Some take effect immediately, and some will take effect at a future date. This update briefly summarizes the most important changes of these changes.

Capital Wage Regulations

In June, the federal government published three amendments to Capital Wage Regulations:

• Regulations for amending the salary capital regulations (Administrative monetary fines and technical changes): SOR/2024-101
• Order on the grouping of ministerial offices for the purpose of a salary capital plan: SOR/2024-116
• Implementation of the Pay Equality Act in the Regulations of Ministers’ Offices: SOR/2024-117

The first of these, SOR/2024-101, has the broadest impact on private sector employers. Among other changes, SOR/2024-101 clarifies the information required in pay equity reports and the appropriate composition of comparative job classes where there are no predominantly male job classes in the workplace. It also provides a framework for issuing administrative monetary penalties (AMP) for non-compliance with reporting requirements.

These changes in Capital Wage Regulations are effective immediately.

For more information on the upcoming federal pay equity compliance deadlines, see our legal update.

Prohibition of substitute worker

On June 20, Bill C-58, An Act to amend the Canada Labor Code and the Canada Industrial Relations Board Regulations, 2012, received royal assent.

Bill C-58 Amendments to Part I of Canada Labor Code (to Code) include:

• Prohibition of substitute worker: Employers will be prohibited from using substitute workers, or bargaining unit workers who seek to “cross the picket line,” to do the work of union employees in a bargaining unit that is on strike or closed, except for narrow. Unlawful use of substitute workers will constitute an offense punishable by a fine not exceeding $100,000 for each day if the employer is found guilty.
• Agreements of Mandatory Maintenance of Activities: below Code, employers, unions, and bargaining unit employees involved in a strike or lockout must maintain services, the operation of facilities, or the production of goods to the extent necessary to prevent an immediate and serious danger to public safety or health. Currently, an employer or trade union has the option of initiating an agreement process on “Maintenance of Activities”. Bill C-58 would make these agreements binding and provide a definite plan for terminating the agreement and adjudicating any related disputes.

Bill C-58 amendments to Code will come into force on 20 June 2025. Once the changes come into effect, the ban on replacement workers will apply to any ongoing strike or lockout, meaning that the continued use of replacement workers must cease.

For more information on employment relationship changes, see our legal update.

Expanded leaves of absence

On June 20, 2024, Federal Bill C-59, The Fall Economic Statements Implementation Act, 2023, received royal assent. Bill C-59 facilitates the following changes to Code (partially updating earlier amending legislation not yet in force):

• Pregnancy loss leave: Employees will have access to a new leave of absence in relation to pregnancy loss of eight weeks in cases of stillbirth or three days in case of any other form of pregnancy loss. Leave will be available when pregnancy loss is experienced by employees, their spouses, or a pregnant person where the employee intended to be the legal parent of the child if the pregnancy ended in a live birth. If the employee has completed three consecutive months of continuous work, the first three days of this leave are paid.
• Mourning leave: Bereavement leave will be extended to give employees the right to eight weeks of unpaid leave in the event of the death of a child. Bereavement leave will also be changed to make it more consistent with others Code vacations, including the requirement for an employee’s written notice to include the reasons for the vacation and written notification of changes to the duration of the vacation.

These changes are scheduled to take effect on December 17, 2025, or at an earlier date to be determined by order.

• Permission to place a child: Currently, parents who welcome a child through adoption or surrogacy have access to the same parental leave as biological parents (up to 63 weeks of parental leave). A new 16-week leave of absence, similar to maternity leave, will be available to employees who take on responsibilities in relation to placing a child in their care, either through adoption or surrogacy.

  The corresponding changes will be made in Labor Insurance Law to create a new 15-week benefit for claimants who take on these responsibilities for a new child, either through adoption or surrogacy.

These changes will take effect on a date to be determined by order.

Bill C-69 Re Budget 2024

On June 20, federal Bill C-69, Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No.1, received royal assent. Bill C-69 includes the following amendments to the Canada Labor Code.

• Presumption of employment status: Parts I, II and III of Code have been amended to add a new presumption of employee status for “a person who is paid remuneration by an employer”. IN Code Proceedings other than criminal prosecutions, employers will bear the burden of proving non-employee status. Currently the opposite happens – an individual claiming employee status must prove it. This contrary presumption is intended to make it more difficult for employers to characterize workers as “independent contractors,” and therefore to make it easier for workers to claim employee status and obtain Code benefits and protections, unless employers can prove otherwise.

  Additionally, employers are prohibited from treating employees as if they were non-employees. Doing so may lead to an injunction, a claim to pay compensation, an unfair labor practice, or a related complaint and investigation.

  These changes are effective with Royal Assent – 20 June 2024.

• Disengagement from labor policy: Employers will be required to establish a severance policy. The policy should include:
  • a general rule respecting communication related to work outside scheduled working hours, including the employer’s expectations and any opportunity for employees to disconnect from the means of communication;
  • any exceptions to the rule and their underlying rationale;
  • the effective date of the policy; AND
  • any other element that may be prescribed by regulation.

Employers will be required to consult with affected employees or unions and, for non-union employees, provide a 90-day response period. Employers must also keep a register of consultations.

The severance provisions will take effect on a date yet to be determined by order. Employers will have one year from that date to develop a policy.

The author would like to thank Ammar Thaver, law student, for his contribution to the preparation of this legal update.