BRITISHCOLUMBIALAWINSTITUTE 1822EastMall,UniversityofBritishColumbia Vancouver,BritishColumbiaV6T1Z1 Voice:(604)8220142Fax:(604)8220144E-mail:bcli@bcli.org Website:www.bcli.org

EMPLOYMENTSTANDARDSACTREFORMPROJECT

Backgrounder

IntroductiontotheEmploymentStandardsActReformProjectINTRODUCTION

TheBritishColumbiaLawInstitutehasbegunworkona twoto three-yearproject tore-viewandmakerecommendationsforreformofBritishColumbia’sEmploymentStandardsAct1.NocomprehensivereviewoftheActhasbeencarriedoutinover20years.Sincethat time,patternsofworkandemployment inBritishColumbiahaveevolvedcon-siderably.However,theActisstillcloselytiedtoamodeloftheworkplaceasitexistedbe-foretherevolutionindigitalandcommunicationstechnology,characterizedbyan8-hourday and 40-hour week with fixed hours of work performed in a fixed locality. Today’sworkplace,bycontrast,maybemuchmoreflexible–withirregularhours,variablelocali-ties,andworkplaceswhereemployersexercisesupervisionoveremployeeswhomaynotbeworkinginthepresenceofoneanother.Regulationofyouth,temporary,andindepend-entworkershavebecomemorechallengingaswell.TheBCLIhasbeenencouragedtoundertakeaprojectontheEmploymentStandardsActbe-causeitdoesnotadequatelyaddressthecontemporaryneedsandcircumstancesofBritishColumbia’sworkplacesandisoverdueforareview.ThegoalofthisprojectistocarryoutathoroughanalysisoftheEmploymentStandardsActandarriveat tentative recommendations for its improvement thatwillbepublished inaconsultationpapertocollectinputfromthepublic.Thisinputwillthenbeusedtoformu-laterecommendationsforreformoftheAct,whichwillbecontainedintheproject’s finalreport.BCLI iscarryingout theprojectwith theassistanceofanall-volunteercommitteemadeupofexpertsinthefieldofemploymentlaw.ThecommencementofthisprojectwasmadepossiblethroughagenerousgrantfromtheLawFoundationofBritishColumbia.

1R.S.B.C.1996,c.113.

BritishColumbiaLawInstitute—EmploymentStandardsActReformProject Page2of4Backgrounder—IntroductiontotheProject

MEMBERSOFTHEPROJECTCOMMITTEE

TomBeasley—Chair BernardLLP

Hon.MarionJ.AllanClarkWilsonLLP BCLIBoardMember(2014-2015)

Prof.RobertG.HowellFacultyofLaw,UniversityofVictoria BCLIBoardMember(2015–present)

SusanP.Arnold SheenArnoldMcNeil

DanCahill BCGovernmentandServiceEmployees’Un-ion

DavidAgesFormerEmploymentStandardsRegionalBranchManager

CharlesGordon KoskieGlavinGordon

DougAlley TheAlleyGroup

DonaldJ.Jordan Harris&Company,LLP

BruceA.Laughton,Q.C. Laughton&Co.

DevynCousineau BCHumanRightsTRibunal

PeterF.Parsons FarrisVaughanWillsandMurphyLLP

AndreaZwackGallLeggeGrant&MunroeLLP

MichaelA.Tanner(MinistryObserverandLiaison)MinistryofJobs,Tourism&SkillsTraining

Gregory G. Blue, Q.C. (senior staff lawyer, British Columbia Law Institute) is the projectmanager.RATIONALESFORREFORM

TheEmploymentStandardsActprovidesabasiclevelofprotectionforworkersagainstex-ploitation of the power imbalance intrinsic to the employer-employee relationship. ThepresentActoriginatedinthe1970’sasanamalgamofseveralseparatepre-existingenact-mentsrelating to topicssuchas:hoursofwork,minimumwage,child labourprevention,andwagerecovery.Itremainscloselytiedtothemodeloftheworkplacethatwasthenormin the1970’s,namelyonecharacterizedby fixedworkinghoursor shifts, an8-hourday,40-hourweek,andhighlyregularizedannualvacationandstatutoryholidays.The21stcenturyworkplaceisconsiderablymorevarious.Theconceptofthe“workplace”itself has evolved significantly since the 1970’s. Information technology anddigital com-municationshaverevolutionizedtheworkingworld.Theworkplacecannolongerbestan-dardizedasafixedlocalitywheretheemployerexercisesdirectsupervisionandemployeesworkinthepresenceofoneanother.

BritishColumbiaLawInstitute—EmploymentStandardsActReformProject Page3of4Backgrounder—IntroductiontotheProject Greater flexibility inworking arrangements is now often desired by employees and em-ployersalike,buttheAct isrelativelyrestrictiveunlessacollectiveagreementis inplace.Themajority ofworkplaces in B.C. are not governed by collective agreements, however.Furthermore,“flexibility”caninvolvepositiveandnegativeconnotationsforbothcamps.Itcan denote both the ability of aworkplace to accommodate circumstances of individualworkersandtheabilityofanemployertocircumventstandardsrelatingtohoursofwork,holidays, leave,etc.Flexibility inworkinghours,wherework isdone,andpatternsof re-munerationcanbesimultaneouslybeneficialordetrimentaltooneortheotheroftheem-ployeroremployee,dependingonhowandwhyit is introduced.Whilethestandardsre-gime fornon-unionizedemploymentrequiresgreater flexibility tomeet21stcenturycir-cumstances,thelegislationallowingforitmustbeverycarefullystructuredtobalancetheinterestsofemployersandindividualworkers.Consultations conducted in 2010/2011 by the Ministry of Labour on employment stan-dards revealed a fewareasof agreement, butmanyareasof disagreement, betweenem-ployers’organizationsandthoserepresentingthenon-unionizedworkforce.Thecompre-hensivereviewof theEmploymentStandardsActbyBCLIwithparticipation frombothofthesesectorswillprovideaneutral,non-politicalforumfordiscussionandanopportunityforemergenceofabalancedmodelforemploymentstandardsgoingforwardintothe21stcentury.ThisprojectwillalsoservethemostbasiceconomicinterestsofallemployersandworkersinB.C..Assuch,ithasthepotentialtostrengthenthesocialfabricoftheprovincetoade-greethathardlyanyotherprojectoflawreformcouldapproach.GOALSOFTHEPROJECTBytheconclusionoftheproject,BCLIwillhave:

(a) carriedoutathoroughanalysisoftheEmploymentStandardsActanditsregulationsin lightof thecurrent realitiesof theworkplace inB.C.and the foreseeable futureevolutionofemployment;

(b) publishedaconsultationpapertocollectinputfromthepubliconissuesandprob-

lemsintheareaofemploymentstandardsandproposedwaysofaddressingthem;

(c) with the aid of the Project Committee, identified the changes to the EmploymentStandardsAct that areneededordesirable to address contemporary and foresee-ablefuturecircumstancesandconditions;

(d) formulated concrete recommendations for amendmentor replacementof the cur-

rentEmploymentStandardsAct;and

(e) publishedadetailedreportonitsexaminationoftheEmploymentStandardsActandrecommendationsforitsreform.

BritishColumbiaLawInstitute—EmploymentStandardsActReformProject Page4of4Backgrounder—IntroductiontotheProject NEXTSTEPSINTHEPROJECTTheprojectwillconsistofthefollowingthreedistinctphases:

• aresearch-and-deliberationphase,duringwhichtheprojectcommitteewillmeetregularly toconsider theEmploymentStandardsAct in theareas ithaschosen tostudyandtheoptionsforreformofthelaw;

• a consultation phase, beginning with the publication of the project committee’sconsultationpaperthatwillsurveythecurrentlaw,discussoptionsforreform,andpresenttheprojectcommittee’stentativerecommendationsforpublicinput.Dur-ing this consultationperiod, thepublicwillhave theopportunity to commentontheprojectcommittee’stentativerecommendations;and

• adraftingphase,duringwhichtheprojectcommitteewillbeengagedinconsider-ingtheresponsestoitsconsultationpaperanddraftingtherecommendationsforitsfinalreport.

ABOUTTHEBRITISHCOLUMBIALAWINSTITUTETheBritishColumbiaLawInstitutewasincorporatedin1997undertheBritishColumbiaSocietyAct.Itsmissionistobealeaderinlawreformbycarryingoutthebestinscholarlylaw-reformresearchandwritingandthebestinoutreachrelatingtolawreform.CONTACTGregoryG.Blue,Q.C.SeniorStaffLawyerBritishColumbiaLawInstitute1822EastMall,UniversityofBritishColumbiaVancouver,BCV6T1Z1Tel.:(604)827-5337E-mail:gblue@bcli.org