Federal employers are probably thinking – wow, there have been so many changes to federal HR laws over the past few years! In previous posts, we have written about changes related to sick leave, employee reimbursements, employment information and providing menstrual products in the workplace.
You may be wondering if the pace of change will be slowing down soon. The answer, unfortunately, is “no”. There are many pending changes to federal HR laws, which you may have forgotten about, but we are still monitoring. These are changes that are on the books, but they are not yet in force.
This post reviews pending changes to the Canada Labour Code (the Code), plus upcoming amendments to accessibility and French language laws that federal employers should watch out for.
Reminder: Federal employers, typically, are national enterprises such as banks, telecommunications, airlines, railways, shipping and interprovincial trucking.
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Canada Labour Code
Disconnecting from Work
Bill C-69 included new provisions requiring federal employers to implement a disconnect from work policy, which would outline their expectations regarding work-related communications outside of scheduled hours of work. These amendments are not yet in force, as we wait for further details in future regulations. In the meantime, the Code amendments include the following requirements:
- employers will be able to exempt certain employees (e.g., managers) from the policy;
- employers will be prohibited from taking or threatening to take reprisals against employees who ask about, exercise their rights or file a complaint under a policy;
- policies must be developed in consultation with employees.
While these amendments are not yet in force, federal employers should keep a placeholder for this upcoming mandatory HR policy.
Leaves of Absence
As a part of upcoming amendments to the Employment Insurance Act, there will be a new 16-week child placement leave. It will apply to employees who are adopting a child or having a child through surrogacy. These amendments are expected to come into force some time this year.
Termination of Employment
Back in 2018, the federal government passed Bill C-86 and it included changes to laws governing group termination of employment (i.e., 50 or more employees terminated within 4 weeks). Almost 8 years later, we are still waiting to see when thse changes will come into force. For example:
- The employer will have to provide any union or unrepresented “redundant employees”, as applicable, with a copy of the 16 weeks’ notice given to the Minister of Labour.
- In addition, “redundant employees” will be entitled to at least eight weeks’ notice or pay in lieu.
We are waiting to hear when these changes will come into force.
Equal Pay
Another change included in Bill C-86 relates to equal pay. Once in effect, employers will not be permitted to pay one employee less than another due to differences in their employment status (i.e., full-time, part-time, permanent and temporary) when they:
- work in the same establishment;
- perform substantially the same kind of work;
- apply substantially the same skill, effort and responsibility;
- work under similar working conditions.
Distinctions will be permitted on the basis of seniority, merit, or quantity/quality of production.
The consultation period on related regulations has closed. So, we may see these changes come into force later this year.
Publication of Employer Non-compliance
Bill C-86 also included an amendment, which will permit the Minister to publicize the name of an employer convicted of an offence under the Code, the nature of the offence, the punishment imposed and, potentially, additional information to be detailed in regulations.
Clearly, this change increases the potential repercussions of an employer’s non-compliance. In addition to any fines, federal employers will want to consider the possible impact that publication of an offence could have on their public image, brand, employee satisfaction and recruitment prospects.
We will let our subscribers know as soon as Ottawa proclaims this amendment into force.
Accessibility
Beginning in December 2027, new accessibility requirements will start rolling out for private sector federal employers with 100 or more employees. This includes:
- December 5, 2027: Mandatory training on digital accessibility fundamentals for employees involved in the development, maintenance or purchasing of digital technologies. Plus refreshers every 3 years.
- December 5, 2028: Employee-facing and public-facing web pages must meet specified accessibility requirements.
Also in late 2028, large federal employers (with 500+ employees) will have to meet additional requirements, including:
- ensuring mobile applications meet accessibility requirements
- publishing an accessibility statement every 12 months.
Official Languages
The Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act is a federal law that was passed in 2023. Once in force, it will apply to federal businesses with Quebec employees, provided that they do not choose to be subject to Quebec’s Charter of the French Language (the Charter) instead. The federal and Quebec governments must enter into an agreement to enable federal employers to opt into the federal French language act. We are not aware of such an agreement – so, we may not see this federal law come into force anytime soon.
If the federal language law is enacted, it will establish a wide-range of employee entitlements for Quebec-based employees of federal private sector employers. For further details, see our Bill C-13 post.
In the meantime, federal employers with Quebec based employees should be complying with the Charter. See our earlier post for more details.
Compliance Works helps federal employers stay on top of HR law
Federally-regulated employers have been responding to many amendments over the last few years. As we can see, there are still many more changes to come. Staying on top of evolving federal HR laws can be challenging and time consuming. Compliance Works is always tracking HR legislation – so you don’t have to!
Contact us to Request a Demo or email us at info@complianceworks.ca to learn how a subscription to Compliance Works can help your HR team succeed.
