The Alberta government’s “The Restoring Balance in Alberta’s Workplace ” Act are in effect for temporary layoffs, group terminations, and variances and exemptions. All other Employment Standards changes take effect November 1.
Temporary layoff – Effective August 15, 2020
In Alberta, the maximum duration for temporary layoffs depends on the reason for the layoff, and when the layoff occurred. Many changes were introduced in 2020 to help with layoffs related to COVID-19.
o be in writing
o state that it’s a temporary layoff notice and its effective date
o include sections 62-64 of the Code (page 58)
Variances and exemptions:
More flexible rules will make it easier and quicker for employers to get approval for, and renew a variance or exemption.
Changes coming – November 1, 2020
General holiday pay calculation:
Employers will no longer include vacation pay and general holiday pay in the average daily wage calculation. The new average daily wage will be the employees’ total wages averaged over number of days they worked in the:
An employer can choose which calculation best suits their payroll cycle.
Averaging agreements:
It will be easier to set up agreements going forward.
Rules for payment of final pay upon termination:
Changes would require employers to pay an employee within one of the following periods that the employer chooses:
Youth Employment:
Employers can more easily hire 13 and 14-year old’s for certain types of jobs because they will not need to get a permit.
Payroll changes:
Employers can correct payroll errors or recover vacation pay paid in advance more quickly because they no longer need to get an employee’s written authorization to deduct an amount that was overpaid on a paycheck. Employers are still required to notify employees the overpayments will be deducted from their paychecks.
Administrative penalties:
Employers will still be penalized for breaking rules, but the penalty amount could be decreased on a case by case basis. Employers will also have up to 30 days to pay administrative penalties. The Director can reduce amounts, and the limitation for progressive penalties is reduced to two years.
General Holiday Pay
What is a regular day of work?
Regular day of work is every workday in an employee’s normal schedule: if the employee works the same days every week, those days are considered their regular days of work. Other days are not regular days of work.
What if an employee doesn’t work the same days every week?
Even if an employee works an irregular schedule, some days in their schedule may still be considered regular days of work. To see which days those are, we look at what happens the majority of the time:
This rule is sometimes called “The 5 of 9 rule”
Regular day of work
Not a regular day of work
General holiday pay and overtime
The hours worked on the holiday do not count when calculating overtime hours worked for the week in which the holiday falls.
However, there is one exception to this rule: When an employee on a regular schedule works a general holiday, instead of paying them the general holiday pay, the employer may offer a day off in lieu. In this case, the general holiday is treated like a standard workday. For the hours worked on the general holiday, the employee receives their standard wage rate and standard overtime rules apply. For the day off in lieu, the employee receives their average daily wage.
Note: Overtime pay is not included in the calculation of average daily wage.
Basic rules
Employee eligibility
Basic eligibility
Most employees are entitled to vacation time and vacation pay after being employed for one year.
However, upon employee request and employer’s acceptance, an employee can take vacation with pay before completing a full 12 months of employment.
Exemptions from the minimum standards for vacations and vacation pay
Some employees who work in specified industries and professions aren’t eligible for annual vacations and vacation pay, including:
Exceptions to the minimum standards for vacations and vacation pay
Construction workers
Employers aren’t required to give their construction employees vacation time. However, construction employees must be paid vacation pay of at least 6% of their wages.
See Construction – Employment Standards Exceptions for more information
Vacation time
Employee entitlements
Employers must give vacation time and employees must take the vacation to which they’re entitled. Where employees have already been paid vacation pay, their time off will be without additional pay.
How vacation time is calculated
The minimum vacation pay and vacation time is accrued during 12-month periods as follows:
Timing of vacations
Employees must take their vacation time sometime in the 12 months after they earn it.
Length of vacations
An employer is required to provide annual vacations to employees. Employers are to provide vacations in one unbroken period, however, an employee can request, in writing, for the vacation to be broken into shorter periods and if the request can be accommodated, the employer should provide this.
Vacation time is allowed to be taken in half-day increments if agreed to by the employer and employee.
Disagreements about vacation dates
Employers are allowed to deny requests for vacation at specific times due to operational reasons. If the employer and employee can’t agree on the employee’s vacation time, the employer can decide when it will be taken. However, the employer must give the employee at least 2 weeks’ notice in writing of the vacation start date.
When a general holiday falls during a vacation
If qualified for the general holiday, the employee can take off either the first scheduled working day after their vacation; or, in agreement with the employer, they can take another day that would otherwise have been a work day, before their next annual vacation.
Vacation pay
Employee entitlements
Vacation pay is based on an employee’s wages paid for work (not other earnings) at the time the vacation is taken.
For the purpose of calculating vacation pay, the definition of wages doesn’t include:
How vacation pay is calculated
For employees paid monthly
For employees paid by monthly salary, the employer must pay the employee’s regular rate of pay for the time of their vacation.
Each week of vacation pay is calculated by dividing their monthly wage by 4.3333 (which is the average number of weeks in a month).
For employees paid other than monthly
For employees who are paid hourly, weekly, or by commission or other incentive pay, the employer must pay:
Change of benefits
Increasing vacation pay
If the employer agrees to provide vacation pay greater than required by the Code, Employment Standards can enforce this.
Reducing vacation pay
If the employer intends to reduce an employee's vacation pay, they must notify the employee before the start of the pay period in which the reduction takes effect. However, the rate must always be at least the minimum required by the legislated standards. This can only be applied on future vacation pay to be accrued and can’t be applied retroactively on vacation pay earned, but not yet paid to the employee.
An employee’s annual vacation period can also be reduced if that employee is absent from work. The reduction in vacation period may be made in proportion to the number of days the employee was or would normally have been scheduled to work, but did not.
When vacation pay is paid out
When an employer pays an employee vacation pay each pay period, they must pay it:
An employer must provide an employee with a statement of earnings that includes vacation pay at the end of each pay period.
See Payment of earnings for more information.
Anniversary date
Employers can establish a common anniversary date for employees, for vacation purposes. However, an employee must not lose any entitlement to vacation time or pay as a result of the introduction of a common anniversary date.
Basic rules for Overtime - No changes were made
Pay rate
Except where there’s a written overtime agreement, an employer must pay an employee overtime pay of at least 1.5 times the employee’s regular wage rate for all overtime hours worked
Banked Overtime
Employers will only be required to provide paid time off on a 1 for 1 basis, meaning that where an employee works one overtime hour, they are only entitled to one hour of paid time off. Previously, overtime agreements required lieu time be accrued on a 1.5x basis.
Protected Unpaid Leave of Absences
Eligibility
Personal and Family Responsibility Leave – This unpaid leave will provide up to 5 days of job protection per year for personal sickness or short-term care of an immediate family member. Includes attending to personal emergencies and caregiving responsibilities related to education of a child.
Long-Term Illness and Injury Leave – This unpaid leave will provide up to 16 weeks of job protection per year for long-term personal sickness or injury. Medical certificate and reasonable notice will be required. This will align with the federal Employment Insurance program.
Bereavement Leave – This unpaid leave will provide up to 3 days of job protection per year for bereavement of an immediate family member.
Maternity and parental leave
Employee eligibility
Employees are eligible for maternity or parental leave if they’ve been employed at least 90 days with the same employer.
Eligible employees can take time off work without pay for maternity or parental leave without risk of losing their job.
Employers must grant maternity or parental leave to eligible employees and give them their same, or equivalent, job back when they return to work.
Employers aren’t required to pay wages or benefits during leave, unless stated in an employment contract or collective agreement.
Employees on maternity or parental leave are considered to be continuously employed, for the purposes of calculating years of service.
The length of maternity leave is 16 weeks and the maximum length of parental leave is 62 weeks.
Employees with less than 90 days of employment may still be granted leave. However, their employers aren’t required under employment standards legislation to grant them leave.
Employers can’t discriminate against, lay off or terminate an employee, or require them to resign, because of pregnancy or childbirth.
For more information, contact Alberta Human Rights Commission
If both parents work for the same employer, the employer isn’t required to grant leave to both employees at the same time.
Length of leave
Birth mothers can take up to 16 consecutive weeks of unpaid maternity leave. The number of weeks of leave exceeds the Employment Insurance benefit length by one week in recognition of the waiting period. Employees should be aware of this before taking their leave.
Leave can start any time within the 13 weeks leading up to the estimated due date and no later than the date of birth.
If pregnancy interferes with the employee’s job performance during the 12 weeks before their due date, employers can require that the employee start maternity leave earlier by notifying the employee in writing.
Birth mothers must take at least 6 weeks after birth for health reasons, unless:
For more information regarding protected grounds for discrimination, please contact: Alberta Employment Standards
Job creation student wage rates came into effect June 26, 2019
The Employment Standards (Minimum Wage) Amendment Regulation introduces a job creation student wage.
The minimum wage for students under 18 is $13/hour as of June 26, 2019. Employers can still choose to pay students more than this minimum wage.
This rate applies to the first 28 hours worked in a week when school is in session. Students must be paid the general minimum wage of $15/hour for any hours exceeding 28 hours in one week. Overtime rules still apply.
Who the job creation student wage applies to:
Contact our Business Counselors with any outstanding questions.