Term Paper: Canadian Labor Law

Sample Term Paper

Words 2,171

This is a term paper on Canadian Labor Law. Employment standards legislation is remedial in nature, promulgated to protect employees from the power imbalance inherent in individual contract regimes by setting minimum standards applicable to all employment relationships.

Each province in Canada has enacted legislation governing employment standards for workers in the province; the Canada Labor Code[1] governs employees in federally regulated industries. Employment standards legislation is remedial in nature, promulgated to protect employees from the power imbalance inherent in individual contract regimes by setting minimum standards applicable to all employment relationships. The various employment standards Acts are broadly written, covering all employment contracts, whether oral or written, within a province. The employment standards defined in the Acts are minimum standards. Employers and employees are prohibited from contracting out of or otherwise circumventing the standards set out in the legislation. However, where the terms of an individual contract of employment provide greater rights or benefits than required by the Act, the contract prevails.

Although the federal and various provincial Acts differ in specific content, there are certain terms and conditions of the employee-employer relationship which are universally addressed. Provisions dealing with the following areas are common to all employment standards legislation: minimum wages, maximum hours of work, overtime, rest and meal periods, statutory holidays, vacation periods and vacation pay, leaves of absence, termination and severance pay.

Canadian employment standards Acts give protection to female employees on maternity leave. For example, in Ontario, while the ESA[2] does not require an employer to continue an employee’s wages or salary during the leave where the employer would not normally do so, it does require employers to continue to maintain coverage under any group health plan at the level and under the same conditions had the employee not been on leave. Also, the ESA requires that employees be restored to their same or equivalent position upon completion of the leave, and it prohibits discrimination against an employee because he or she has exercised rights under the Act.

[1] An Act to consolidate certain statutes respecting labor

[2] EnviroSim Associates Ltd (ESA), Canada

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