The Employment Standards Amendment Act ("Bill
8") has introduced changes to the Employment Standards
Act ("ESA"). Bill 8 received First
Reading on April 29, 2019 following a British Columbia Law
Institute report released in December 2018, and received Royal
Assent on May 30, 2019.
Changes have also been made to British Columbia's Labour
Relations Code which are discussed
here.
The notable changes discussed below came into force on May 30,
2019 unless otherwise indicated:
Collective agreement terms must meet or exceed ESA
requirements
The main elements of a collective agreement must meet or exceed
ESA requirements. Previously, in certain areas, the
ESA did not apply to collective agreements that contained
provisions addressing such ESA requirements as hours of
work, overtime, statutory holidays, annual vacation, seniority
retention, recall, termination or layoff. These provisions
will now need to meet or exceed the standards set in the
ESA.
