The Federal Government is moving forward on Amendments to Part III (Labour Standards) of the Canada Labour Code (the Code) which covers changes to hours of work and overtime for employees in the federally regulated sector. The proposed regulations respecting exemptions from and modification to hours of work were first announced in 2018 and went through a consultative process in which UCTE participated.

The major changes are new hours of work provisions require employers to provide their employees with:

• 96 hours’ written notice of their work schedules;
• 24 hours’ written notice of shift changes or additions;
• a 30-minute unpaid break during every period of 5 consecutive hours of work; and
• a rest period of 8 consecutive hours between work periods or shifts.

These changes will come into effect for most workers in the road transportation, postal and courier, marine (pilotage, marine transportation, long-shoring), and grain (grain handling/elevators and milling) sectors, with some exemptions for employers with continuous 24/7 operations.

However, these proposed changes will not be in force in the aviation, telecommunications, broadcasting, banking and rail transportation. According to the government, the pandemic prevented stakeholders in these sectors from making submissions following the second round of consultations held in February and March 2020. They state that consultations will resume when these stakeholders indicate they are ready to re-engage.

It is also important to note that many employers in the aviation sector, most notably the major airlines were vehemently opposed to these changes because it would interfere with their business operating model.

UCTE is being asked to provide its final feedback by mid-February. If you are a member who works for a federally regulated employer and are interested in providing feedback with regards to the proposed changes, please feel free to send your comments to ucte-ucet@psac-afpc.com no later than February 5, 2021.

To review the amendments please click here.