On July 7, 2020, the Government of Alberta introduced Bill 32:
Restoring Balance in Alberta's Workplaces Act,
2020 (the "Bill"). This Bill proposes to amend
Alberta's Employment Standards Code and Labour
Relations Code. The stated purpose of the Bill is to support
economic recovery, restore balance in the workplace, and get
Albertans back to work. The changes aim to provide employees and
employers with clearer and more transparent rules promoting
fairness and productivity in the workplace.
Some of the key changes to the Employment Standards
Code and Labour Relations Code proposed in the Bill
are summarized below.
EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS CODE
Group Terminations
Currently, the Employment Standards Code provides
different rules for group terminations depending on whether more
than 50, 100, or 300 employees are being terminated. Under the
proposed change to the legislation, there would be only one set of
rules for all terminations of 50 or more people in a