The Employment Standards Act of British Columbia

The Employment Standards Act of British Columbia is in place to protect the rights of employees, especially those on lower wages. The British Columbia legislative government passed the law. The act includes several sections that pertain to an employer's treatment of an employee and aims to ensure that there is no discrimination in the workplace. Meal breaks, minimum wage, and even parental leave are all included. The act's key goals, as well as any amendments to it, including ensuring that workers receive the least minimum wage and working conditions; ensuring that employers and employees are treated equally; and ensuring that employers and employees are treated fairly. ensuring that disagreements over the act's meaning and are resolved peacefully; allowing development of the labor force so as to allow their contribution to the development of the province; fostering good communication between employers and employees and ensuring that employees are able to meet their responsibilities.

Introduction

The employment standards act BC was recently changed in 2016. The amendments did not affect a lot of the section as only three were affected. The amendments made included an amendment to the employment standards regulation that resulted in an expansion of the list of workers excluded from certain parts of the act. The changes also included an update to the minimum remuneration afforded to employees. Lastly, the amendments factored in an update to the case laws references and interpretations of various acts and provisions throughout the employment regulations act. Prior to the changes made to the act in 2016, the Act had been amended in 2002. At this time the changes were more expansive and covered a lot of provisions found in the act. This policy report will look at the amendments made to the act, the purpose of the amendments and the different recommendations on acts that need amendments as well as recommendations on the current amendments that are in place.

Employment Standards Amendment Act 2002 (Bill 48)

The amendments were mainly in response to concerns raised by employers at the time. For starters, the provision that collective agreements was required to either meet or exceed the provisions of the act was removed. It was amended that as long as the collective agreement contained any of the provisions, then the agreement stood. On the same note, if the agreement did not address some of the matters found in the provisions, then the provisions were automatically incorporated as part of the agreement (Gallivan, 2002). As such, for the employees that are unionized, the enforcement was through the agreement and not through the branches with various exceptions. The amendments also included a reduction in the minimum hours worked on a daily basis from 4hours to 2hours. The time for the record keeping for the employer was reduced from 5 to 2 hours. Employer’s liability for unpaid wages was reduced from 24 months to 6 months. Directors’ and officers’ personal liability in case of a situation where the business became insolvent or bankrupt was removed. There was also introduced a provision that allowed for the negotiation of settlement agreements as well as their enforcement as binding agreements.

The amendments were brought to effect on November 30, 2002 and thus the following provisions came into effect on that day; changes to rules of overtime with respect to double time payment; averaging agreements; a simper statutory holiday provisions; and penalties for contravention of the provisions which is mandatory.

Purpose of the Changes

The government gave various reasons for the changes. For starters, the amendments were done to protect the employees who are vulnerable thus protecting them from overexploitation. The changes made to the collective agreement provision in the cat was done to allow for more flexibility as now employers and employees could be able to negotiate for better agreements. The government also used the amendments as a way to help the economy by taking into effect the different needs of today’s workplace. Aside from using the amendments as a way to ensure that the needs of the current workforce are well represented, the government also used the amendments as a means to reduce government intervention especially in the collective agreements provision.

Issues Arising Due to the 2002 Amendments

Upon implementation of the 2002 amendments to the employment standards act, there were various issues raised by people working in the BC region regarding the changes. These included complaints that the changes led to reduced rights and protections for employees and also an erosion of systems used in enforcement of the legislations. The issues included;

Wages for farm workers was cut effectively due to their exclusion from the hours of work, statutory holiday, and overtime. The definition of farm work was expanded to include jobs involving food processing which were not previously included.

The core provisions of the Act excluded employees that were unionized. This affected a lot of employees who join unions as a way to ensure their needs will be heard by the employers. The exclusion meant that unions did not enjoy access to investigations and complaints or appeal and enforcement provisions found in the act.

The elimination of the 24 hour notice when there is a shift change and introduction of ability of an individual worker and employer to agree on foregoing the 8 hour shift so as to work for more hours without any overtime pay meant that an employee may be required to work for almost 12 hours for the same pay as before.

These changes were viewed as favoring the employer rather than the employee. They leave the employee is a worse situation that before the amendments were made.

The Need For more Amendments

The employment standards act is designed to provide legislation on the relationship between workers and employees with regards to remuneration and working conditions. BC Canada has continuously been known for being the province in Canada with the largest income gap, second highest child poverty rate and highest poverty rate. It has the highest cost of living in Canada. Contrary to the expectation of a province with the highest cost of living, BC has lower hourly wages and greater employment insecurity (Fairey & Cohen, 2013). Some of these problems are addressed in the 2016 amendments but only to a bare minimum.

Employment Standards Amendment Act 2016

After 2002, the employment standards act was revised in 2016, with minor changes added to the provisions. There was an amendment to the minimum wage which was increased from $10.45 per hour to $10.85 per hour. For the employees who are serving liquor as part of their jobs, the minimum wage was increased from $9.20 to $9.60 (Carswell, 2016). Bill M200 was enacted to include a provision that was not in the act before. The amendments provided the escaping domestic violence leave. This bill was structured to ensure that employees who are dealing with domestic violence at home do not have to suffer also at work. It also makes provisions where work hours and conditions can be altered so as to keep the employees safe. Due to the amendment instituted, victims can be able to access help which may only be available during working hours (KARAGIANIS, 2016).

Recommendations

In order to provide better employee safety and access to rights and provisions, the employment standards act BC should include various things. This includes a re-establishment of the employment standard branch offices so as to ensure workers have access to in-person assistance and have a clear channel of forwarding their complaints. They should also increase the avenues for the employment standards enforcement. This will ensure that employee’s rights are well enforced without the employees need to register complaints about their employers. Provide employment standard education to workers or provide funding t NGO’s in the province who are willing to provide the education to employees (Fairey, Eroding Worker Protections: BC's New 'Flexible' Employment Standards, 2005). This effort will help in reducing the number of vulnerable employees who are not aware of what their rights are and are thus exploited by employees. Lastly, the legislative government should engage in worker education by using regular press so as to reach a wider array of vulnerable workers and educate them on the working conditions they should expect from employees.

In conclusion, it is evident that, even after two amendments to the employee standard act, there is still need for change to ensure that the act is in line with current employment practices and current working environments. BC government has however made an effort in ensuring that the changes act as an improvement to the working conditions for the workers.



References

Carswell. (2016). B.C. Employment Standards Act: Quick Reference - 2017 Edition. Carswell.

Fairey, D. (2005). Eroding Worker Protections: BC's New 'Flexible' Employment Standards. Canadian Centre Policy Alternatives.

Fairey, D., & Cohen, M. G. (2013, April 24). Why BC's Lower-wage Workers Are Struggling. Retrieved from The Tyee: https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2013/04/24/BC-Employment-Standards/

Karagianis, M. M. (2016, December 2). Bill M 220 — 2016: Employment Standards (Domestic Violence Leave) Amendment Act, 2016. Retrieved from Legislative Assembly of British Columbia: https://www.leg.bc.ca/parliamentary-business/legislation-debates-proceedings/40th-parliament/5th-session/bills/first-reading/m220-1

Gallivan, P. Q. (2002, November 26). Overview of Amendments to the B.C. Employment Standards Act and Regulations. Lawson Lundell. Lawson Lundell LLP. Retrieved from http://www.lawsonlundell.com/media/news/19_EmploymentStandardsAmendment.pdf