During the month of March, British Columbians are being asked to provide feedback on upcoming changes to the BC Employment Standards Act, the law that sets minimum standards for terms of employment and working conditions for most workplaces in the province.
“Our government wants to make sure that our laws and policies are relevant and up to date, and I can see ways employment standards can be improved,” said Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons.
The public consultation follows a four-year review by the independent non-partisan British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI). Known as the Employment Standards Act Reform Project, the review was carried out by an all-volunteer committee and included its own public consultations. The work has been underway since 2014 with support from labour and business organizations, The Law Foundation of BC, and BC Ministry of Labour.
“It was not a governmental initiative, it was our own initiative,” said BCLI senior staff lawyer Greg Blue. “But it was at the urging of people within the legal community.”
The last comprehensive independent review of the act, The Thompson Report, took place in 1994 and much has changed during that time, including the way many British Columbians work. New technology has led to more people working remotely, from home and part time.
“The concept of the workplace as one physical location where the employer exercises direct supervision over employees, that’s evolved quite a bit,” said Blue. “People quite often work semi-independently and not in one location, so that’s something in the present age that requires looking at. The legislation is really based on the workplace as it was in the late 20th century; sort of a 1970s kind of model.”
Another issue affecting British Columbians is the erosion of unions, a global trend, according to Blue.
“Unionization has declined not only in BC but throughout much of the industrial developed nations,” he said.
Blue cited Germany as an example of how the breakdown of unionization can impact workers; the nation only established a minimum wage in 2015.
“They only recently introduced a minimum wage in Germany,” said Blue. “They didn’t think they needed one until then because so many people were unionized.”
Out of 71 recommendations in the report, the Ministry of Labour highlighted six themes: increasing protection of child workers; transforming the Employment Standards Branch; supporting families through difficult times with job-protected leaves of absence; strengthening workers' ability to recover wages owed; clarifying hours of work and overtime standards; and improving fairness for terminated workers.
“I hope that anyone who has had an issue with any one of the themes takes the opportunity to provide input,” said Simons. “If the system made it difficult for you to collect unpaid wages, if you have been dealt with unfairly, either as an employee or employer, if you think laws can be more fair, this is why governments consult: to make the system better.”
The significance of the Employment Standards Act has increased in importance with the decline in the proportion of the workforce that is unionized, said Blue, and for all workers in the province.
“It’s a matter that really affects nearly all workplaces in BC; even in unionized workplaces [the act] affects certain aspects of employment relationships, although collective agreements can take precedence over portions of it,” he added. “The only place it isn’t really important and doesn’t apply in BC is in federally regulated industries where the Canada Labour Code applies instead.”
The deadline for participation in the public consultation is March 31, 2019. For more information about how to participate, go to engage.gov.bc.ca/govtogetherbc/consultation/modernizing-the-employment-standards-act/.
