As we have previously announced, there were scheduled changes to the Alberta Employment Standards Act. Within Bill 32, some of those changes came into effect on November 1, 2020.
The current changes that came into effect this month are:
PAY AND PAYROLL
The calculation of General holiday pay will not include vacation pay and general holiday pay. The calculation is the employee’s total wages averaged over the number of days they worked in the 4 weeks immediately before the general holiday, or 4 weeks ending on the last day of the pay period that occurred just before the general holiday.
Additionally, if you have overpaid an employee, you will no longer be required to receive written permission to deduct an overpayment that is due to a payroll error for vacation pay paid in advance.
TERMINATION AND LAYOFF
Employees are to receive their final pay 10 consecutive days after the end of the pay period in which they were terminated or 31 consecutive days after the last day of employment.
Additionally, the Specific timing requirements for written temporary layoff notice are removed.
HOURS OF WORK AND REST PERIODS
More flexible rules for hours of work averaging arrangements will make it easier to set up arrangements, create schedules and calculate overtime.
Employees must get at least 30 minutes of rest every 5 hours of work for shifts that are longer than 5 hours. The rest period can be within or immediately after the 5 hours of work, or at any time mutually agreed upon by the employer and employee.
OTHER CHANGES
For those dealerships that operate in an unionized environment, it is worth noting that an employer and union can agree to alter employment standards rules such as hours of work, notice of work times, days of rest and overtime hours under hours of work averaging arrangements.
Some changes that are not yet in effect will include changes to the negotiation of collective agreements, picketing rights, access to information for union members and union dues options.
If you would like more information on any of these changes, or would like assistance in implementing new processes to ensure compliance, please contact us at info@dealerpilothr.com to learn more.