Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Waiving Advanced Notice for Group Termination - What it Means
Bill 20 provides an exception clause permitting employers demonstrating an inability to provide group termination notice due to a significant unexpected event that prevents the employer from respecting the notice period in the act. Under the existing act, the period of required notice ranges from four to 16 weeks, depending on the number of employees affected. In situations where employers do not follow this required period of notice may be guilty of an offence and liable or summary conviction.
Bill 20 provides exceptions that would only apply when an employer is required to terminate the employment of a group of employees as a result of a circumstance or event beyond their control, such as the destruction or major breakdown of machinery or equipment, climatic or economic conditions, or emergencies, including a public health emergency:
- the circumstances that prevented the employer from providing notice must have been truly beyond the employer's control;
- the employer must have exercised due diligence to foresee and avoid the cause of termination; and
- the cause of termination must prevent the employer from respecting the periods of notice set out in act.
Within the proposed bill, the employer is still required to provide notice of the group termination to the Employment Standards Officer and to any trade union of which the employees may be members as soon as possible. Once notice is received, the Employment Standards Officer determines if the exception applies to circumstances preventing employers from providing notice to employees within the periods of notice set out in the act.
What We Heard
Waiving Advanced Notice for Group Termination - Employment Standards Officer
In their submission to committee on Bill 20, the UNW emphasize there is a lack of clear language within the proposed exemption clause. The UNW also felt the interpretation of this clause could be perceived as protecting the needs and rights of the employer over the rights of workers and their union representatives. Additionally, they stated the unclear language describing the broad interpretation exemption criteria provided the potential for abuse. They stated:
"The UNW is struggling to understand the rationale for adding a clause specifically exempting employers from notifying designated authorities and workers' unions when they intend to circumvent the advance notice requirements of a group termination. The employer is still obligated to notify its workers, and the UNW fails to see how, in the age of electronic communication, notifying additional parties presents a burden or undue hardship. On the surface, this section appears to remove any government oversight from the process and strip collective agreement protections from unionized workers."
Committee expressed similar concerns upon their review of Bill 20. To increase legislative balance within Bill 20 for both employees' and employers' rights, committee moved the several motions amending Bill 20. The motions can be found in appendix C.
Mr. Speaker, I will now pass the reading of the report to the MLA for Kam Lake. Thank you.