Working in BC

This section looks at laws that apply to the workplace in British Columbia.

BC Employment Standards

In BC there is a law to protect you and your basic rights as a worker. It is called the Employment Standards Act. This law protects most workers.

The Employment Standards Act and Regulations under the Act set minimum standards for working conditions in most workplaces in British Columbia and governs:

• certain aspects of hiring,
• the minimum wage rate,
• hours of work and overtime,
• statutory holidays (and pay),
• certain leaves of absence(including pregnancy leave),
• annual vacation (and pay), and
• ending employment.

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The Employment Standards Branch is responsible for labour and employment law in the province, including the BC Employment Standards Act and Regulations under the Act.

Farm workers are protected by some but not all sections of the Employment Standards Act. The Act excludes veterinarians, lawyers, babysitters and students.

A collective agreement between an employer and a union may replace certain sections for unionized employees. For more information, contact the Employment Standards Branch.

The Employment Standards Branch has a range of useful information materials about the Employment Standards Act. For more information, contact:

Employment Standards Branch
1-800-663-3316
www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb/esaguide

Ministry of Jobs, Tourism & Skills Training and Responsible for Labour
www.gov.bc.ca/jtst

Accepting a job

When you accept a job, you enter into a legal agreement (or contract) with your employer. Your employer agrees to pay you a salary and provide other benefits and entitlements in return for your work.

Minimum wage

There is a minimum wage law for most jobs. Each province sets a minimum wage, which is the lowest amount of money the employer may pay you for your work. In 2013, the minimum wage in BC is $10.25 per hour except for liquor servers, who receive a minimum wage of $9.00 per hour. The rates change from time to time.

Both full-time and part-time workers have the right to minimum wage. You can find information on the Employment Standards Branch website:
www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb

Hours of work

Unless you have an averaging agreement with your employer (described in the next paragraph), your employer must pay you overtime after eight hours of work in one day, or more than 40 regular hours in one week.

If you agree, your employer may establish a “time bank” in which your overtime entitlement would be saved up and paid out at a later date. For more information, read the section called “Overtime Pay” or access the factsheet on the Employment Standards Branch website:
www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb

Averaging agreements

Under an averaging agreement, you and your employer can enter into a written agreement that allows your employer to schedule your working time in a way that better meets the employer’s needs.

In effect, an averaging agreement allows your employer to compress your regularly scheduled workweek into fewer, longer work days without paying the usual overtime.

To use a simple example: If you usually work 40 hours a week, on average, under a one-week averaging agreement, your employer could schedule you to work for 10 hours a day for the four busiest days of work. In this case, your 40- hour, five-day work week has been “averaged” to fit into four days of 10 hours each. No overtime is paid for the 10-hour days.

Averaging agreements can be complicated. To find out more contact the Employment Standards Branch or read the fact sheet on averaging agreements on the Employment Standards Branch website at:
www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb

Overtime pay

Generally, your employer must pay you overtime:

• when you have no averaging agreement with your employer, and you are required to work more than 8 hours in a day or more than 40 hours in a week; or
• when you do have an averaging agreement with your employer, and your employer asks you to work more hours in a day than you agreed to in the averaging agreement.

The amount of overtime pay you get depends on the number of extra hours you work. You must be paid overtime after eight hours of work in one day. Your employer must pay you one-and-a-half times your regular pay for each hour you work after eight hours. This is called time-and-a-half.

Your employer must pay you two times your regular pay for each hour you work after 12 hours. This is called double-time.

The Employment Standards Branch website has more information about the complicated overtime rules:
www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb

Minimum daily pay

If you come to work as your employer asks you to do, you must be paid for at least two hours at

your regular wage, even if you work less. If you have an averaging agreement and you agreed to work more than eight hours in a day, you must be paid for at least four hours, even if you work less.

If you come to work but you are unfit to work because for example you have been drinking or because you forgot your safety equipment, your employer does not need to pay you minimum daily pay.

Meal break

You can work for five hours without a break. After five hours, your employer has to give you a break of at least 30 minutes. An employer who requires an employee to work or be available for work during a meal break must count the meal break as time worked by the employee. Employers are not required to provide coffee breaks.

Holidays you get paid for

There are ten public holidays in BC. They are called statutory holidays because the Employment Standards Act says they are holidays. Statute is another name for a law made by the government.

Normally, on a statutory holiday, you take the day off work but you still get paid. The statutory holidays are:

• New Year’s Day
• Family Day
• Good Friday
• Victoria Day
• Canada Day
• British Columbia Day
• Labour Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Remembrance Day
• Christmas Day

Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, and Boxing Day are not statutory holidays, though many employers will offer employees a day off with pay on those dates.

To get paid for the statutory holiday, you must:

• have been employed for at least 30 calendar days, and
• have worked on at least 15 of the 30 days before the statutory holiday.

If you work under an averaging agreement any time in the 30 days before the statutory holiday, you automatically have the right to the statutory holiday.

There are different payment rules which apply if you are required to work on a statutory holiday. The Employment Standards Branch website has information about this: www.labour.gov.bc.ca/ esb.

Vacation pay

After your first 12 months of employment, employers have to give you at least two weeks paid vacation every year. If you have worked for the same employer for five years or more, your employer has to give you three weeks paid vacation every year. Usually you must take your vacation within 12 months of earning it. You may take it in periods of one or more weeks. Statutory holidays are in addition to annual vacation.

If you leave your job before you use up your vacation, your employer still has to pay you for that unused vacation time.

Losing your job

If you work for an employer for three months or less, he or she can let you go without giving you notice or extra pay. If you work more than three months, the employer must give you notice in writing before your job ends or must pay you compensation. The amount of notice

or compensation depends on how long you worked for the employer but is usually no more than 8 weeks.

For example: Chui worked in a large store for four months. After Christmas, her employer said, “Today is your last day.” She gave Chui one week’s extra pay.

Sometimes an employer does not have enough work for the employees or does not have money to pay the bills. The employer might lay off the employees for a few weeks.

A layoff is usually temporary. The employer doesn’t have to tell you ahead of time. If the layoff lasts longer than 13 weeks in a 20-week period, it means your employment has ended.

If the layoff is permanent and your employment has ended, the employer must give you compensation.

Employees can lose their job without notice or compensation for stealing from an employer, repeat lateness or harassing another employee.

Quitting your job

Employees can quit a job any time. It is usual to give your employer notice that you are quitting. Two weeks of notice is considered customary but is not required by the Employment Standards Act.

If you can, giving plenty of notice that you are quitting is a good idea especially if you want your employer to give a good report about you when you apply for another job. This is called giving a reference.

It is important to note that if you quit your job, or if you are fired for misconduct, you will usually not be eligible to receive employment insurance (EI) benefits.

You can find out more about the laws about working in BC by looking at the Guide to the Employment Standards Act. This guide is online at:
www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb/esaguide.

Leave

Pregnancy leave

A working pregnant woman has legal rights. For example, she can take up to 17 weeks off work without pay. This is called pregnancy leave.

Pregnancy leave begins no earlier than 11 weeks before the expected birth date and no later than the actual birth date.

Pregnancy leave ends no earlier than 6 weeks after the actual birth date, unless the employee requests a shorter period, and no later than 17 weeks after the actual birth date.

An employer can’t fire a woman because she is pregnant. And when she returns to work, she must get back her old job or a similar job for at least the same pay.

A working pregnant woman can apply for money from Employment Insurance during her pregnancy. There are rules about when a woman can apply and how much time she can have. She may be eligible for up to 15 weeks of benefits.

Family responsibility leave

An employee is entitled to up to 5 days of unpaid leave during each employment year to meet responsibilities related to:

the care, health or education of a child in the employee’s care, or the care or health of any other member of the employee’s immediate family.

Bereavement leave

An employee is entitled to up to 3 days of unpaid leave on the death of a member of the employee’s immediate family.

Immediate family is identified as a spouse, child, parent, guardian, sibling, grandchild and grandparent of an employee and any person who lives regularly with the employee’s family.

For more information on leaves read the Leave fact sheet on the Employment Standards website:
www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb/facshts/leave.htm.

Termination of employment

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The BC Employment Standards Act does not remove an employer’s right to terminate an employee.

The Act requires that employees who are terminated are entitled to receive written notice or compensation based on length of service.

An employee who is terminated may be eligible for compensation based on the following formula:

• after three consecutive months of employment – one week’s pay;
• after 12 consecutive months of employment – two weeks’ pay; and
• after three consecutive years – three weeks’ pay, plus one week’s pay for each additional year of employment to a maximum of eight weeks.

The employer is not required to pay compensation if an employee is given advance written notice of termination equal to the number of weeks for which the employee is eligible. This notice must be in writing.

Belonging to a union

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A union is a group of employees who join together to negotiate wages and working conditions with the employer. Everyone has the right to form a union if most of the employees want a union. Unions are for the protection of employees.

Your union and your employer will talk together. They will decide about pay, vacation time, sick pay, and other benefits. This is called collective bargaining. They will write a contract. This is called a collective agreement.

The collective agreement sets out your rights and working conditions. If you have a problem with your employer, talk to the union. The union will meet with the employer to discuss the concerns.

There are some rules for unions. The rules say what unions can and can’t do. In BC, this law is called the Labour Relations Code.

Getting hurt on the job

Sometimes workers get hurt on the job. Workers’ Compensation is a program run by WorkSafeBC. This program helps workers who are injured or get sick because of their work.

WorkSafeBC makes safety rules and sends inspectors to most workplaces to check if they are safe. Employers pay for this protection. There is no cost to workers.

Workers who can’t work because of an accident at work or illness may get money from the Workers’ Compensation program. If a worker dies at work, the family may get compensation. Their website is at:
www.worksafebc.com

Employment insurance (EI)

Employment Insurance (EI) is a federal government insurance program that all workers and employers pay into. It is often known just by its initials: EI.

EI is meant to help workers when they lose their jobs, or need time off work.

You have to work a certain number of weeks before you can apply for benefits.

There are several types of Employment Insurance benefits:

• Regular Benefits are for people who lose their jobs through no fault of their own.
• Maternity and Parental Benefits are for those who are pregnant, have recently given birth, are adopting a child, or are caring for a newborn.
• Sickness Benefits are for people who cannot work because of sickness or injury.
• Compassionate Care Benefits are for people who have to provide care or support to a family member who is gravely ill with a significant risk of death.

To apply for EI benefits, you need to fill out an application for EI at a Service Canada Centre or online. At the website, look for “Apply for Employment Insurance Benefits” under “Online Services and Forms.”

Service Canada Centre
Vancouver: 1-800-622-6232
www.servicecanada.ca

Call your local Service Canada Centre to find out if you need to make an appointment. They might ask you for your postal code to find out which office you should go to.

When you go, you should take:

• your social insurance card and proof of your immigration status,
• a second piece of identification, with your photo if possible, like your passport or driver’s licence, and
• your Record of Employment (ROE), if you have it, from every place you worked in the last 12 months.

If you do not speak English or French, take someone who can translate for you.

Note: If you want to get regular EI benefits, be sure to apply as soon as you lose your job. Apply even if you do not yet have your Record of Employment (ROE). If you delay applying for benefits for more than four weeks after your last day of work, you may lose benefits.

If you lost your job because you quit or got fired, it will be difficult to get EI benefits. Check with your EI office for the number of weeks you need to have worked in your area. Their website is:

www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/sc/ei/benefits/regular.shtml

Discrimination in employment

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In Canada, there are laws to protect workers from discrimination. For example, an employer is expected to hire employees on the basis of skills, experience and education needed for the job.

It is discrimination if an employer doesn’t give a job because of your gender, age, race, religion, birthplace, sexual orientation (gay, bisexual, or straight), marital or family status (single, married, or living common-law), mental or physical disability, or because you have a criminal record for an offence that is unrelated to the job you are applying for.

There are also laws to protect you against discrimination while you are on the job.

British Columbia Human Rights Code

The BC Human Rights Code applies to all businesses, agencies, and services in BC. The Code protects people from discrimination in many areas of daily life, including discrimination in the workplace.

To make a complaint under the Code about discrimination in the workplace, the following must usually be true:

• you have been singled out and treated differently and poorly, compared to others; and
• you are being treated differently and poorly because of a personal characteristic, such as your race, colour, religious belief, gender, mental or physical disability, or sexual orientation.

For information about the Human Rights Code and how to file a human rights complaint, you can contact the BC Human Rights Coalition.

BC Human Rights Coalition
1202 – 510 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 1L8

Where do you file a complaint?

The BC Human Rights Tribunal is where you can make a complaint that someone has discriminated against you under the Code. The tribunal’s job is to resolve human rights complaints in a way that is fair to the person who made the complaint and the person whom the complaint is against.

BC Human Rights Tribunal
Vancouver: 604-775-2000
Toll Free: 1-888-440-8844
www.bchrt.bc.ca

How do you file a complaint?

To file a complaint you need to get a Complaint Form, fill it out, and file it with the tribunal within six months of the incident. These materials are available online at:
www.bchrt.bc.cau

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by People's Law School, 2013.

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