The Helping Workers Get Ahead Act would make broad changes to Nova Scotia’s labour, pay equity, workplace safety and union laws. It would expand employee protections, increase some wages and benefits, and give government agencies stronger enforcement powers.
The bill is at first reading. It would need to pass before any of these changes take effect.
Employees: Three weeks of vacation would become available after five years with an employer instead of eight years. Employees would also receive up to five paid sick days each year and at least 32 hours of rest in every seven-day period, instead of 24 hours.
Workers paid overtime: For most employees covered by the new rules, overtime would apply after more than eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. Hours beyond 12 in one day would be paid at double time. Short-haul and long-haul truck drivers would have special overtime rules.
Workers called in outside scheduled hours: An employee required to report for work outside scheduled hours would generally receive at least three hours of wages.
Job applicants: Job advertisements would have to state expected pay or a pay range. The range could not be more than $50,000 apart on an annual basis. Employers using artificial intelligence to screen or select applicants would have to disclose its use, purpose and the personal information provided to it. After an interview for a publicly advertised position, the employer would have 45 days to say whether a hiring decision had been made.
Workers receiving tips: Tips and certain customer surcharges would belong to employees. Employers could still pool and redistribute tips among employees. Employers could not use tips to meet minimum-wage obligations or deduct administrative charges from them. They would have to keep records and make them available to employees.
People treated as contractors: A person receiving payment from an employer would generally be presumed to be an employee. The employer could avoid that classification only by showing that specific conditions were met. Managers and people employed confidentially in labour-relations matters would be excluded from this presumption.
Employees of private businesses: Private-sector employers with 10 or more employees would be covered by expanded pay-equity rules. Employers would have to create pay-equity plans, review compensation at least every five years and make adjustments where required. Pay equity means equal pay for work of equal or comparable value. Employers could not lower anyone’s pay to achieve it.
Construction workers: Where a workplace must provide a toilet, a fixed flush toilet would generally be required at a construction site unless that was not reasonably possible. A portable flush toilet would be the next option. A chemical toilet could be used only when the other options were not reasonably possible.
Unionized workers and employers: A union with more than half of a bargaining unit’s employees as members could be certified without a vote. A vote would generally be required when membership was between 35% and 50%. Employers could not use paid or unpaid replacement workers to perform work normally done by employees on strike or locked out, except for agreed health and safety work.
Workplace closures: During certain protected periods around union organizing and first collective agreements, a workplace closure would be presumed unlawful if it affected union rights. The Labour Board could order a workplace reopened, require rehiring or compensation, and address the transfer of work to another employer.
The bill could increase costs for employers and government, but no overall cost estimate is provided.
No specific public statements from proponents were supplied. Based on the bill’s text, possible arguments in favour include:
No specific public statements from opponents were supplied. Possible concerns based on the bill’s design include: