The Alberta government introduced Bill 21: Ensuring Fiscal
Sustainability Act, 2019 on October 28, 2019. This bill
proposes several legislative changes that will impact labour and
employment relations in the Province and which raise various
considerations for employers. The changes include amendments to
several pieces of existing legislation and the introduction of a
new statute, the Public Sector Employers Act.
As a summary, some of Bill 21’s elements which stand to
impact employers include:
- Changes to the definition of
“employee” in the Employment Standards
Code.
- Requiring employment standards
officers to refuse employment standards complaints by unionized
employees.
- A lifting of the ban on the use of
replacement workers during a strike or lockout by essential
services workers (changes to the Labour Relations
Code).
