On April 21, 2022, the Alberta Government introduced Bill 17,
the Labour Statutes Amendment Act,
2022 ("Bill 17"), which
expands leaves under the Employment Standard
Code (the "ESC") effective May
31, 2022.
Bill 17 also amends the Labour Relations
Code to allow post-secondary representatives to continue
representing members in collective bargaining indefinitely. These
changes are scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2022.
Bereavement Leave Expanded
Bill 17 amends the ESC to allow employees that have been
employed with the same employer for at least 90 days and who would
have been parents, such as biological, adoptive, or surrogate
parents, to take bereavement leave when a pregnancy ends other than
in a live birth. This change provides employees time to grieve with
the assurance of job security when they return to work.