Federally-regulated employers take note: significant changes to
employment standards under the Canada Labour Code come into effect
on September 1, 2019.
Most employers in Canada are governed by provincial employment
standards legislation, but some are subject to the Canada Labour
Code. A few examples include telephone and internet companies,
banks, airlines, airports, interprovincial trucking companies,
railroads, and First Nation governments and related entities. Until
now, the Canada Labour Code excluded many of the rules common
across nearly all provincial employment standards acts. This is
about to change.
On September 1, 2019, the following changes come into
effect:
- Meal breaks: an employee will now be
entitled to an unpaid 30-minute meal break after five consecutive
hours of work, subject to certain limited exceptions for
unforeseeable emergency circumstances. If the employee is on call
during the break, it must be paid.
