Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) is amending regulations under the Canada Labour Code to exempt some employee job classes in the rail and air transportation, banking, and telecommunications and broadcasting sectors from certain hours of work requirements.
The Canada Labour Code applies to employers and employees in federally regulated private-sector industries and in federal Crown corporations.
The Exemptions from and Modifications to Hours of Work Provisions Regulations list exemptions and modifications for Canada Labour Code standards requiring employers to provide at least 96 hours’ notice of work schedules, 24 hours’ notice of shift changes, an unpaid 30-minute break during every period of at least five consecutive hours of work and an eight-hour rest period between shifts or work periods.
The regulation already includes exemptions and modifications for job classes in the road transportation and postal and courier sectors, marine sector, and grain sector. The new amendments will add exemptions and modifications for specific job classes in the air transport, rail transport, banking, and telecommunications and broadcasting sectors.
The amendments affecting the rail transportation, banking, and telecommunications and broadcasting sectors will take effect on January 4, 2024. The amendments covering the air transportation sector will come into force on June 4, 2024.
In the air transportation sector, the amendments will affect job classes such as pilots, flight engineers, flight instructors, air traffic controllers, flight attendants, and firefighters. All of the job classes listed in the regulations will be exempt from the standards for 24 hours’ notice of shift changes. Certain classes will also be exempt or have modifications relating to the 30-minute break and the eight-hour rest period standards.
In the rail transportation sector, affected job classes include locomotive engineers, conductors, baggage handlers, rail traffic controllers, and service employees on passenger trains. All of the job classes listed in the regulations will be exempt from the standards for 24 hours’ notice of shift changes. Certain classes will also be exempt or have modifications relating to the 30-minute break and the eight-hour rest period standards.
In the banking sector, the amendments will apply only to commission-paid salespeople. They will be exempt from all of the standards to which the regulations apply.
In the telecommunications and broadcasting sector, the amendments will cover commission-paid salespeople, technicians employed in the telecommunications sector who install, maintain, or repair telecommunications networks or equipment, and producers, technicians, and journalists employed in the broadcasting sector who work in the production of live-broadcast events. Like the banking sector, commissioned salespeople in telecommunications and broadcasting will be exempt from all of the applicable standards. The other job classes generally will have exemptions or modifications relating to shift changes, breaks, and rest periods.
ESDC said the amendments are necessary to “balance the operational realities of certain industries with the legislative goal of providing employees with work-life balance and more predictability in relation to their hours of work.” It noted that flexibility in scheduling work is required in the rail and air transportation sectors because of their continuous 24/7 operations and in the banking and telecommunications and broadcasting sectors because of their unique scheduling practices.
The amendments also include related changes to the Administrative Monetary Penalties (Canada Labour Code) Regulations. They took effect August 4, 2023.
For more information on the amendments and the specific job classes affected, see SOR/2023-180, Regulations Amending the Exemptions from and Modifications to Hours of Work Provisions Regulations and the Administrative Monetary Penalties (Canada Labour Code) Regulations, in the August 16, 2023 issue of the Canada Gazette Part ll (Vol. 157, No. 17), at https://canadagazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2023/2023-08-16/pdf/g2-15717.pdf.