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ARTICLE · 30 JUNE 2020

COVID-19 Related Temporary Layoff Period Extended Again For Alberta Employees

Miller Thomson
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On April 6, 2020, in response to the pandemic, Alberta's Minister of Labour and Immigration signed a Ministerial Order (MO 2020-18) that extended the maximum length of a temporary layoff period to 120 consecutive days.

CanadaEmployment and HR
Teri Treiber
Teri Treiber
Stephen Torscher
Stephen Torscher
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Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Alberta's Employment Standards Code, RSA 2000, c E-9, stated that employees who were temporarily laid off for one or more periods exceeding, in total, 60 days within a 120-day period were deemed to have been terminated, unless:

  1. during the layoff period the employer, by agreement with the employee,
    1. pays the employee wages or an amount instead of wages, or
    2. makes payments for the benefit of the laid-off employee in accordance with a pension, employee insurance plan, or similar plan, or
  2. there is a collective agreement in effect containing recall rights for employees following layoff.

On April 6, 2020, in response to the pandemic, Alberta's Minister of Labour and Immigration signed a Ministerial Order (MO 2020-18) that extended the maximum length of a temporary layoff period to 120 consecutive days. The Ministerial Order provided that this change applied to all temporary layoffs where the employee had been given notice

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