DATE: April 15th, 2020
RE: AMENDMENTS TO LABOUR STANDARDS ACT AND REGULATIONS
The Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Standards Act and Labour Standards Regulations requires all employers to establish conditions of employment that meet at least the legislated minimum standards in areas such as wages, hours of work, holidays, leave, termination, etc.
A recent amendment to the Regulations is the addition of Section 11.3 Designated Communicable Disease. These recent changes include: (1) COVID-19 designated as a “communicable disease”, and (2) entitlement to emergency leave in relation to COVID-19 is considered to have started on March 14th, 2020. Therefore, any COVID-19 leave entitlements are retroactive back to March 14th of this year.
Simultaneously, the Act was revised to include Part VII.8 Communicable Disease Emergency Leave. In particular interest is Section 43.39 Communicable Disease Emergency Leave and Section 43.40 Employee Protection. The addition of this new language provides an employee protection and legal entitlement to a leave of absence without pay, no requirement to provide a medical certificate, no termination for accessing leave, onus on employer to prove dismissal unrelated to leave request, and the same terms and conditions before the leave request are to be continuous (unless otherwise agreed). Essentially, an employer can not terminate your employment relationship if you are under medical investigation/supervision/treatment, isolation/quarantine, providing care or support due to school or child care closures, directly affected by travel restrictions, and other reasons as prescribed in the Regulations.
To view the most recent versions visit Labour Standards Act and Labour Standards Regulations
As we collectively navigate through this COVID-19 crisis together, we hope that all employers are aware of these recent legal amendments and support their employees to the best of their ability.
In Solidarity,
Richard Gill
President / Business Manager – Teamsters Union Local 855