On June 1, Alberta’s updated OHS laws will include new guidelines around the definitions of harassment, including sexual and domestic violence, and increased protections from violence and harassment.

As part of the outreach on this issue the government has published handbooks for employers and employees. This outline is a starting point, OHS is offering webinars here.

You can read the Harassment and Violence in the Workplace guide here.
You can also read about all the changes coming June 1^st here.

As reported in last week’s newsletter, ACA along with a number of partner associations met with Minister Gray regarding the lack of flexibility in hours of work averaging agreements.  Based on dialogue with Employment Standards in a follow-up meeting, ACA wishes to advise employers an averaging agreement period can be for up to 12 weeks, and this period can repeat for up to two years before a new agreement is required.  Please refer to section 23.1 of the Employment Standards Code (Code) and also information found on the Employment Standards website at this link.

While averaging agreements require a work schedule, the schedule may be varied due to a variety of factors beyond the control of the employer, including weather (Section 16).

Last week, Alberta Construction Association (ACA) led a group of construction industry associations into a meeting with the Labour Minister to discuss how changes to employment standards are negatively impacting our workforce (see letter).

ACA and our partner associations noted that weather dependencies, remote locations and project-based work make it difficult for workers to achieve the number of hours of work and work-life balance.

A follow-up meeting takes place this week.

ACA remains committed to working to get commitments from government that is best for our members and employees.